What If A Mirror Amourshiping Story
by HAKDurbin
Summary: Ash is finally getting over his breakup with his ex-girlfriend, Miette and meets a beautiful but snarky woman named Serena. He starts to develop feelings for her, but then it's revealed that she has a boyfriend. So the shy and nervous Ash is struggling to handle being just friends while Serena is with her tall and friendly boyfriend, Calem. Based on the 2013 film of the same name.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

379 days.

It has been 379 days since Ash broke up with his ex-girlfriend Miette for cheating on him.

379 days since he dropped out of medical school and started a dead end career writing user manuals for dedicated purchasing software.

379 days since he started living with his older sister, Dawn and her son, Jeffrey.

379 days where his life has not felt the same.

This is what fills Ash's mind as he sits on the roof of Dawn's house. He likes to get on the roof through the window to his room around night time to think about his life. With his sad brown eyes and messy yet weak black hair, the 27-year old man glumly looks at the view of Lumiose City which is a half hour drive from Dawn's house in Vaniville Town. He takes out his phone and looks at his latest text message from his best friend since college, Brock.

 _Brock: Hey, Ash, are you planning to come to my party? I know you're still super down, but you gotta get out of your hole sometime, bro._

Ash frowns at the text. For over a year now, Brock has been trying to get him to move on from his depressed state and back into society since Ash only leaves the house to go to work or go to a movie with Dawn and Jeffrey or maybe go to a movie by himself. As much as Ash appreciates what his friend is trying to do, he has no confidence that what he's asking will help. Normally, if Ash ever goes to a social gathering without a girlfriend, he just stands around or sits somewhere quietly while he pathetically watches everyone drink and chat the night away and Brock makes out with two women at minimum. Everyone who knows Brock as a friend knows that he's an expert at hitting on and successfully make out with women and date at least one for a brief time before it ends badly.

Suddenly, Ash feels his phone vibrating in his pocket and he takes it out.

 _Brock: Look, buddy, you can't keep moping forever. Sooner or later you need to move on. Do you really want to stay in this state while everyone else including Miette are having better lives than you are?"_

Ash winces at the message. The idea of his ex-girlfriend living a better life than him even after she knowingly wronged him stings him inside. He thinks about what Brock is saying until he goes to the voice message app and plays a voicemail that has been on his phone for exactly 379 days.

"Ashy, please talk to me," A frail and sad female voice says. "Whatever you saw, there's an explanation. I'm not saying it's a good explanation - obviously, it's not, but you don't know the full story. Look, Ash, no matter what happened I still love you. You are a sweet guy and you mean everything to me. Just call me back, please. I love you."

Ash frowns angrily at the woman's claim that she still loves him. He's heard this message at least a few hundred times now and each time is more unbearable than the last. But this time, he can't stand to head the desperation in Miette's voice. It's as if for the first time, the pain in hearing her voice is not as strong as before.

Without another word, he deletes the message and climbs down the roof.

Ash walks down the street to Brock's house with a nervous look. As much as finally deleting Miette's message lifted a large weight on his chest, he's still unsure that he can stand interacting with a crowd of people again. He gulps nervously as he makes it to the driveway to Brock's house where he can see a bunch of people partying through the windows. Ash hesitates and takes a step back waiting to turn around and go back home until the front door bursts open to reveal a tall 29-year-old man with black hair and dark skin looking at Ash with a face of joy.

"Ash, little buddy! You made it!" Brock says happily as he walks over to Ash and pulls him into a tight hug.

"Hey, Brock," Ash groans in pain from the tight embrace before Brock lets him down.

"So does mean you're finally ready to move on?" Brock asks enthusiastically.

"Well...I finally deleted Miette's message so I guess so," Ash says quietly with a shrug.

"Wow, finally got rid of that skank's message. Look at you go!" Brock says with a grin as he takes Ash's hand. "Come on, It's time to join society again, buddy."

Ash whimpers as Brock leads him inside the house. Brock helps Ash take off his coat while Ash looks around to see the entire area crowded by people drinking and dancing.

"So, why did you throw a party again?" Ash asks.

"Ash, Ash, Ash, Ash," Brock says with a chuckle. "I don't need a reason to throw a party."

Ash's nervous face fades to give Brock a suspicious look. Brock chuckles again and scratches the back of his head.

"Okay, fine. I'm looking for a rebound or two after things went south with Florinda,"

"I thought you didn't get together with her," Ash says in confusion.

"Yeah, but it looked like we were gonna be a thing until that guy from her job stole her from me," Brock grumbles. "So I need someone to cheer me up and get me back on my feet after my loss."

Ash gives Brock a pitiful look which Brock ignores as he continues.

"Hey, look at it this way, together we're both going to be moving on," he says. "I'll be using this party to move on from Florida while you move on from Miette."

Ash frowns nervously at this idea.

"I don't know, Brock," he says. "Just because I'm trying to move on doesn't mean I want to start dating again. I'm fine with being just single."

Brock furrows his brow and says, "Ash, my brother, you disappoint me. You've been single and then some for over a year. It's past time that you try to find someone. Haven't you been alone with practically no one but me, Dawn and Jeffrey long enough?"

Ash hesitates and struggles to make a response. Before he can say a word, however, Brock pats him on the back.

"Come on, you never know what comes up until you try, little buddy," he says. "There's a ton of ladies here, most of which none of us have ever met. Maybe there will be someone who is ten times the lady for you Miette could ever have been."

"I don't know," Ash says. "I can't imagine any girl for me would go to a party like this. Not even Miette."

"Well, maybe they'll have a best friend that convinced them to come like me," Brock says nudging Ash's side with his arm playfully. "So go grab a beer and look around, check some girls out. At least pretend to enjoy yourself."

With that, Brock pats Ash on the back again and leaves to scout for lonely women. Ash groans, regretting that he came here before he reluctantly makes his way to the kitchen. He struggles his way down the halls with groups of people talking, drinking and pairs of people making out drunkenly before he makes it to the kitchen. Robotically, he takes out a beer from the fridge, takes out the cap and quietly takes a small sip. He begins to stare at the fridge and the word magnets covering its door until he gets an idea and starts putting together a sentence with a few of them.

Love is stupid monkeys dancing in a slapstick hurricane

He stares at his creation and a small smile enters his face satisfied with letting out his feelings. Suddenly, he hears a giggle behind him. He turns around to see a beautiful woman with short honey blonde hair give him a playfully mocking smirk that makes him feel nervous again.

"Y-yeah, that was...actually supposed to be an anonymous fridge magnet poem," he says bashfully.

"And here I am quietly judging you," the honey blonde woman teases.

"Oh, I can handle it," Ash says scratching the back of his head. "I have humiliated myself in much worse ways than this in front of people I actually know."

Ash grows uncomfortable, wondering why he said that to a complete stranger. His nervousness melts, however, when his reply is met with the woman raising her eyebrow and smirking at him in amusement.

"Indeed," she says as she raises her bottle to him. "Cheers."

"Uh...yeah, cheers," Ash says as he raises his bottle and they clink their bottles together before she leaves.

Ash lets out a sigh, feeling relieved to be done with that awkward moment. But then he finds himself turning around and watching the honey blonde woman leave to the next room. He feels his cheeks warm up a little as his mind drifts to how beautiful she is despite her mocking demeanor. He acts confused as he wonders why this woman is suddenly grabbing his attention even though her personality doesn't imply that she's the kind of woman he's interested in. He shrugs, guessing that his thoughts were just on the possibility of getting together with a girl like her, for the more he thought about it, the more he realized he has never seen a woman as beautiful as her. Eventually, he sighs and looks for a chair in the living room to quietly drink his beer.

After about ten minutes, Ash finishes his beer and goes back to the kitchen to get another one. But as he enters the kitchen, he sees the woman with the honey blonde hair standing in front of the fridge, moving some of the magnets around. He slowly walks over to her and she turns her head to notice him.

"Sorry, I moved your poem," she says pointing to where she moved his message. "I suddenly got fascinated with what you were doing and just felt this desire to try it."

"Oh...that's okay," Ash says shyly. "It can get a little addicting."

The honey blonde woman nods in agreement before she takes a step back and presents her own message.

We are nothing but dancing light in the restless dream of a roasted pig.

"What do you think?" she asks proudly. "A full-on masterpiece if I say so myself."

Ash chuckles lightly and says, "It's amusing."

"Hey, Serena!"

Ash and the honey blonde woman turn around to see Brock entering the kitchen, carrying a pile of empty beer bottle with both his hands before dumping all of them into the recycle bin.

"Glad you could make it," he says before noticing Ash. "Ah, you two just met."

"Yeah, I guess we sort of did," the honey blonde woman answers.

"Alright, then how about some introductions?" Brock suggests. "Ash, this my cousin, Serena, Serena, this is my old college roommate, Ash."

"Ah, so you're the famous Ash," Serena says giving Ash an amused look as they shake hands. "Brock has told me a lot about you."

"Oh, I certainly hope not," Ash says nervously.

"This is actually the first time Ash has been to a party in a while," Brock says, patting Ash's head as he speaks. "He's been hibernating like a bear for a year ever since his poor little heart was broken."

"Aw, Brock, could you please not tell that to people while patting my head?" Ash whines.

Serena giggles and says, "Well, I must say, this explains a lot. I thought you were anemic or partially albino."

"Well, it's technically both but -" Ash begins before a tall woman with auburn hair interrupts him.

"Excuse me," she says. "Do you guys know Autumn? She's tall, brown hair and she's always bragging about her eating disorder."

Ash and Serena shake their heads, but Brock stares at the woman awestruck as she spoke. He grins mischievously and steps toward her with a coquettish look.

"I'm Autumn," he says playfully. "It's been a long time."

The woman raises her eyebrow and smiles flirtatiously.

"Why yes, it has," she playfully says back.

"It's so good to see you," Brock says.

"That's just what she sounds like," the woman says sarcastically.

"Would you like a tour of the house?" Brock asks.

"Why yes, that would be delightful," the woman answers with a kittenish grin.

The two of them walk away, eying each other as they exit the kitchen, leaving Ash and Serena to silently judge their friend.

"I knew he was going to that with some woman eventually, and yet it's still unbelievable that he quickly acted like she's the only person in the house," Ash grumbles.

"It's the price people pay for knowing Brock whether as a friend or a relative," Serena agrees. "Although to be fair, I don't always like going to parties whether my cousin is here or not. Having awkward small talk is not my forte."

"Um...actually it's 'fort,'" Ash says.

Serena turns to the wimpy man with a skeptical look.

"Excuse me?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

Ash stutters for a moment before he explains, "W-w-well, 'for-te' means forcefully, and 'fort' means strength."

Serena keeps her skeptical look, making Ash feel uncomfortable and desperate to get her to stop judging him.

"B-b-but I still say 'for-te' too, because if you say 'fort,' everyone thinks you're getting it wrong, even though it is the correct pronunciation."

Serena keeps her glare before she asks, "So is that basically your thing? Correcting people's pronunciations?"

"Um…yes?" Ash answers.

"And how is that working for you?" the honey blonde woman asks with her arms crossed.

"Uh...well...I have a dead-end job, I live in my sister's attic, and as we've established earlier, I never go out," Ash says scratching the back of his head before he realizes how much he blurted out. "Now that I think about it, I guess correcting pronunciation is my old thing and my new thing apparently is over-sharing."

Again, much to Ash's surprise, Serena giggles in amusement.

"S-s-sorry, I don't see how that's amusing," Ash admits.

Serena snorts out a laugh and says, "You're kinda funny. Do you want to find someplace to sit and talk?"

Ash stands there dumbfounded. He has no idea why he's amusing this woman so, but at the same time, it seems like an opportunity too good to pass up with an attractive woman like her after fully getting over Miette. He robotically nods yes and Serena smirks as she takes two bottles of beer out of the fridge and takes his hand. Ash blushes and feels goosebumps in his skin as she drags him across the house until she finds two empty chairs.

The two of them talk to each other for about a half an hour while the party goes on. As they talk, Ash learns that Serena is an animator and she works in a big animation company back in Lumiose City, has a younger sister named Lillie who also lives in Vaniville Town and has lived in Kalos her whole life. Ash goes on to share that he's lived in Kalos for five years since he moved from Kanto to go to medical school, he hates his job and his sister, Dawn and his nephew Jeffrey moved to Vaniville Town a couple years ago after Dawn's husband, Kenny died of an illness. They continue to chat until Serena says that she's going to the bathroom and Ash politely waits for her to come back.

After about forty minutes or so, however, he notices that she's taking a long time. He frowns as he begins to think that she might have left or gone to talk to someone else less pathetic than him. After a few more minutes, he decides to finish his beer and get ready for home. As he makes his way to the front entrance, he finds Brock fiercely making out with the auburn-haired woman with her legs and arms wrapped around him. Ash groans in annoyance at his best friend's success in wooing another girl as he makes his way to the front entrance and grabs his coat.

"About to leave?"

He turns around in surprise to find Serena walking toward him with another smirk.

"Uh...yeah," Ash admits uncomfortably. "I just decided to leave without saying goodbye like a big jerk."

"What a capital idea, so did I," Serena says proudly as she says as she grabs her own coat. "Although, in your defense, I don't think you count as a jerk when my cousin is the one sloppily exchanging saliva with some bimbo in front of everyone."

Ash finds himself snickering and says, "I think that sums up half of what he's commonly known for in a nutshell."

"Oh yeah? What's he also known for?" Serena asks curiously as the two of them exit the house.

"Drinking beer and the fact that he never cooks anything because he's obsessed with chimichangas," Ash says plainly.

Serena laughs loudly and says, "That sounds about right. I mean I'm his cousin, and yet you probably know about his eating habits more than I do."

Ash smiles, feeling comfortable again as they reach the sidewalk.

"Where are you going?" Serena asks. "I'm just a couple of blocks west."

"Oh, I am too," Ash says with a small smile. "Would you...uh… like to walk together?"

"I don't see why not or how we could not," Serena says rolling her eyes. "It's not like I'm asking you to wait two minutes until I'm ahead of you and then go home."

"Uh...right," Ash says chuckling nervously as the two of them begin to walk down the street.

"Are you always acting this awkward or am I just lucky?" Serena asks with a frown. "And don't start your answer with another "uh' or "um.'"

Ash struggles not to start his sentence with 'uh' or 'um' before he answers, "I guess I'm always this awkward."

"Well, at least you're honest about it," Serena says. "There's nothing wrong with a man who can admit his faults."

Ash smiles again, feeling somewhat flattered by her words before he decides to start another conversation.

"So...how long have you wanted to become an animator?" he asks.

"Since I was about 7 or 8," Serena says plainly. "I was just one of those girls at school who wanted to draw whenever I wanted and didn't care what anyone thought or if I would get in trouble with my teachers because of it."

"How can you not care about getting in trouble just like that?" Ash asks in surprise.

"It's simple to do when they are trying to teach me things like math and science and stuff that I have absolutely no use for," Serena answers uncaringly. "When you know that you're not going to be there forever, it's better to treat your so-called higher ups like their words against you have no weight against you whatsoever."

"Oh gee, I could never do that," Ash says. "I would always be terrified to talk back to any of my teachers."

"I can't imagine why," Serena says sarcastically. "Seems like you needed someone like me to get you out of your awkward stage growing up."

"Uh… do you think younger you would have been willing to spend time trying to teach something like that to a guy like me?" Ash asks.

"Well, you seem like a nice enough guy to give it a shot," Serena says with a friendly smirk.

Ash smiles at her reply as the two of them make it to the front porch of Dawn's house.

"So this is your sister's place, eh?" Serena asks before pointing at the top window. "And I'm guessing that's where you're staying?"

"Yeah," Ash answers awkwardly.

"What's it like living in an attic?" she asks. "Is it just boxes of stuff and then someone you have a bed and a lamp and maybe a dresser or something?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," Ash says waving his hands with a nervous chuckle. "It's like a normal bedroom except you get in by climbing a ladder and I can climb to the roof through the window if I like to."

"Really?" Serena asks as she looks at the roof with an intrigued look. "That sounds neat."

"Yeah, it kind of is," Ash says. "I like to go up there and think and look at the city from afar."

"Cool," Serena says nodding her head.

The two of them stare at each other for a moment, making Ash uncomfortable again before he builds up the courage to say what's on his mind.

"Uh, listen," he says bashfully. "I had a really good time talking to you...so..um...maybe you would like to talk again sometime?"

Serena stares at Ash for a moment before she smirks again.

"You know what? I actually had a nice time talking to you too," she says making Ash let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "In fact, I'm gonna give you my number."

Ash smiles brightly at this as Serena takes out a small sheet of paper and a pen from her purse and begins writing.

"Now this is top secret information," she says with a playful glare making Ash smile. "I did not mean to stay up this late. My boyfriend will be worried about what happened to me if I don't call him and let him know I made it to my apartment safely.

…

Boyfriend.

Ash groans silently so that Serena does hear as his hopes are crushed like an ant against a boot. He keeps his smile, pretending he isn't hurt as Serena gives her the piece of paper.

"Alright, Mr. Ash, I expect you to call me," Serena says.

"Uh, yeah. Absolutely. Thank you very much," Ash says as he struggles to keep his cool. "N-nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Serena says with a friendly smirk as she begins strolling down the sidewalk to her home.

Ash watches her walk until she's too far away before he breaks his fake smile and groans sadly. Here he thought he had a chance to move on with really snarky but pretty woman and she turns out to have a boyfriend.

"Then again, why wouldn't she have a boyfriend?" he grumbles as he enters Dawn's house and makes his way up to his room. "She's only a super-hot woman with an attitude, so of course someone would be dating her long before she ever meets me."

After turning on his bedroom lights, he takes out the sheet of paper containing her phone number and crumbles it before throwing it into the trash bin next to his bed stand. Then he opens the window and climbs into his spot on the roof want looks at Lumiose City from afar with a mopey look.

"Ah, what's the use complaining?" he asks himself sadly. "What would someone like her see in a guy like me anyway?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It has been two weeks since Ash met Serena at Brock's party and he hasn't seen her since. The small parchment containing her phone number lies crumbled in his bedroom trash bin as he has made no attempts to see or speak to her again. The fact that she had a boyfriend the entire time they talked at the party still stings after having a nice time getting to know her. And yet, while life has been going on like normal apart from no longer keeping Miette's voice message on his phone, he can't help but continue to think about her. He doesn't want to admit it, but he enjoyed her company even if she is snarky.

Meanwhile, Brock has unsurprisingly ended up hooking up with the amber-haired woman he met at the party. Ash has dropped by Brock's place a couple of times since the party to learn that her name is Holly and she was invited to the party by her friend Autumn who for some reason decided not to come to the party without telling her. Holly doesn't seem to mind, however, as she and Brock have been meeting almost every day if for no reason than to just make out vigorously for hours on end. Brock has started to talk about virtually nothing but Holly whenever he talks with Ash which bothers him, but at the same time he knows that Brock is like this with every woman he successfully starts to date and this new relationship will probably blow over within a month or two if his women-obsessed friend is lucky.

Tonight, Ash has decided to try to go out more by going to the movies. A small theater at Lumiose City is doing a double feature with the movies The Garden of Words and Your Name. After buying his ticket, Ash grabs a small bag of popcorn, chocolate raisins, and a soda before finding a seat in the front row of the theater room a few minutes before The Garden of Words begins.

Unknown to him, just half a minute before the movie begins, a certain woman with short blonde hair enters the theater room and starts watching the movie only a few rows behind Ash.

A couple hours later, the double feature ends and Ash leaves the room, throws away his trash and exits the building. Standing on the sidewalk, he takes out his phone and begins texting to Dawn that he's coming home soon. As he does, Serena exits the theater, takes out her phone and starts texting just a few feet from Ash without either of them knowing. As they text, Ash notices that someone is standing near him and he looks up from his phone to realize that is Serena before he quietly turns back to his phone hoping she doesn't notice him. Likewise, Serena looks up from her phone to see Ash right next to her, but she frowns before turning back to her phone, hoping he might notice her. The two of them remain silent with their eyes glued to their phones until a cab parks on the sidewalk.

"Either of you need a lift?" The cab driver asks.

Both Ash and Serena look up and look at the cab and then at each other and chuckle, pretending to be surprised that they were right next to each other the whole time.

"Oh, hi," Ash greets with a sheepish smile.

"Hi," Serena says with a friendly grin before turning to the cab driver. "No thanks. We're okay."

The cab driver nods in understanding and drives away as Ash and Serena turn to each other.

"Wow, Ash, I didn't see you there," Serena lies.

"Yeah, I didn't see you standing three feet from me either," Ash lies with a chuckle. "Were you at the movie theater this whole time?"

"Yeah, I was supposed to come with my boyfriend, Calem, but then he had to work late," Serena grumbles, clearly displeased before giving Ash another friendly smirk. "But hey, I like watching movies by myself. In fact, I think it's really cool that you came all by yourself."

"Uh...yeah, super cool," Ash says, scratching the back of his head. "So did you enjoy the movies?"

"Oh yeah, can't get enough of them," Serena answers.

"Me too. They're two off my favorite movies...even if their depiction of love is unreal," Ash says.

Serena looks at the shy guy in confusion.

"What do you mean?" She asks.

"Well, the reality is love is just a means for people's selfish desires that can turn you into a worse person," Ash answers.

Serena furrows her brow and crosses her arms.

"That doesn't make any sense coming from you," she says plainly. "I don't think you can openly say that The Garden of Words and Your Name are two of your favorite films and then say that love makes you a worse person."

Ash frowns and says, "Well, honestly, it's totally irrelevant. I mean Your Name is kind of like a fairy tale where two people can be meant to be together through some mythical connection and do all these noble and courageous things to please the other, but in real life, love is just an all-purpose excuse for selfish behavior. You lie and cheat and hurt people and it's okay because you're in love. That's why I think The Garden of Words is more realistic because the two people in love ended needing each other just for that brief time for their own personal needs."

Serena continues to stare at the nervous man skeptically, making him uneasy.

"I can't tell if you're cynical or the world's strangest, super-crazy, romantic cheeseball," she says. "You did go watch two popular romantic films by yourself on a weeknight like a complete loser."

Ash winces at her words.

"Well...you came anyway after your boyfriend ditched you, so who's the real loser?" He asks, trying to sound tough.

Instead of looking hurt, Serena giggles at Ash's comeback.

"Touché," she says with a smirk.

Ash smiles back, feeling a little better with Serena's response. The two of them continue to stare at each other until Serena speaks again.

"Are you hungry?" She asks. "I don't know about you, but I am a lady who needs some real grub after that pitiful bag of popcorn."

Ash is taken aback by what she's proposing for a moment before he smiles and quickly nods, "Yes."

Ash and Serena walk several blocks from the movie theater until they find a 50's diner and decide to eat there. When the waitress brings them their food, Ash is excited about what he ordered while Serena is disgusted.

"I don't know how you could have ordered fried pickles," she rebukes. "Pickles are disgusting. A pickling is like embalming, basically. Like a pickle jar is like a tomb for cucumbers."

Ash looks at Serena unfazed with her ridicule.

"Honestly, Serena, I have violated many corpses in medical school losing my lunch heaven known how many times in front of my teasing classmates to know that pickling is not the same as embalming."

Serena looks at Ash confused until she remembers.

"That's right, you're a dropout. I remember you said that at the party," she says before digging into her burger and fries.

Ash nods and takes one of his fried pickles and munches on it happily much to Serena's disgust.

"Seriously, Ash, how can you stand that?" She rebukes again.

"Aw, come on, Serena," Ash protests with his mouth full. "The whole idea of deep-frying food is that it makes everything taste better. Everyone knows that."

"Not me. I hate deep-fried food," Serena snarls bluntly.

"What?" Ash shouts in disbelief. "You don't like fried chicken?"

"Nope," Serena says.

"French fries?"

"nuh-uh"

"Onion rings?"

"Ew,"

"Fish and chips?"

"Disgusting."

"Donuts? Funnel Cakes? Deep fried banana sandwiches?"

"No, but I hear DJ Leo had one of those when he died," Serena says.

"Ah, I heard that too," Ash says. "And he also ate something called Fool's Gold."

"What's that?" Serena asks curiously.

"No idea, but apparently, DJ Leo had forty pounds of undigested feces in his stomach when he died," Ash answers.

Serena frowns disgusted and sarcastically says, "Thanks for saying that in the middle of dinner. Why don't you say diarrhea the next time I take a bite?"

"Uh...diarrhea?" Ash says nervously as Serena eats her burger earning a roll of her eyes.

"Seriously, is this something you learn in medical school?" She asks annoyed.

"Yes, actually," Ash answers honestly. "I had a class where they tell you what to expect when examining a corpse using examples from dead celebrities."

"Oh yeah?" Serena asks with a raised eyebrow. "How much feces did Cynthia have?"

"Tons," Ash answers before eating another fried pickle.

Serena glares at Ash before she asks, "How in the world do people decide to weight the feces?"

Ash shrugs nervously and answers, "I guess in the case of someone like DJ Leo since he's the King of Wubs, people might have actually fought for that job."

"Seriously?" Serena asks unamused. "You're suggesting that people would be desperate to do that if they can't be ones to examine his body or dress it up for the funeral?"

"Well, people do crazy things when they're big fans of someone popular," Ash says with a shrug.

"Clearly," Serena says before taking another bite of her burger. "Still, I wonder what this Fool's Gold thing is. I mean is it a food that is colored like gold or the imitation of expensive food like fish or steak?"

"I never thought of it, to be honest," Ash says scratching his chin. "Honestly, all my teacher said was that it was one of the last things DJ Leo ate."

Serena pouts in a grumpy yet childish way that makes Ash giggle before she says, "Well I'd like to find out because the more I think about it, the more not knowing will drive me crazy."

"I could look it up if you'd like," Ash offers, trying not to laugh.

"You better," Serena says pointing at Ash with a fork full of coleslaw. "You brought it up, so it's only fair you fill in the blank."

"Yes, ma'am," Ash says.

Serena smiles, satisfied with his answer before they continue to eat in peace. After they paid for their food, they take a bus back to Vanivllie Town and walk to the from entrance to Serena's apartment, talking the entire time. Ash grows more comfortable around Serena as she seems to enjoy his company with each passing moment. In the end, both of them are smiling as they make it to the front door.

"Well, I had a good time talking with you, Serena," Ash says.

Serena's smile suddenly turns into a suspicious frown.

"Is that so?" She challenges. "Then how come you haven't called me?"

Ash freezes in place, shocked. Serena crosses her arms giving him a displeased glare. Ash tries to think of a good excuse, but his tongue is tied, making him feel worse. Finally, Serena sighs and speaks with her arms still crossed.

"Listen, Ash, I get it," she says calmly. "I've been dating Calem for five years and it's natural that guys don't like to hang out with a girl who already has a boyfriend. Trust me, I know. You're not the first. But you know, it really sucks that they act this way. I mean it honestly makes me feel like guys are only interested because they wonder how I look with my clothes off. But you don't think about just my body, do you?"

"No! No! Goodness, no!" Ash says waving his hands.

"Good," Serena says firmly. "Because honestly, I think it's better that a guy knows that a girl is taken so that there's no confusion. Plus, for all your stumblings, you seem like a nice guy and I would like it if we are friends."

Ash is taken aback and how serious Serena is about being friends. In his mind, he's hesitant because deep down he wishes he can be much more than friends with this beautiful, no-nonsense woman, but for his own personal reasons, he has no desire to try to break up a woman with her boyfriend just for his own selfish needs. He also considers that either way spending time with Serena still feels like a great way socially speaking to move on from Miette.

"So can we be friends?" Serena asks, snapping Ash out of his thoughts as she her hand.

Ash pauses for a second before he gives Serena a toothy grin and shakes her hand saying, "Yeah, why not? Friends."

Serena smirks, satisfied with his answer.

"Excellent," She says. "Now do I need to give you my number again?"

"Uh, that won't be necessary," Ash assures. "I'm pretty sure I still have it somewhere in my room."

"You better," Serena warns. "Remember, I know where you live. So don't make me storm over there and force you to talk to me because I will."

"Okay," Ash says with a nervous grin. "Well...good night, Serena."

"Good night, Ash," Serena says with a pleased smile mirk and she enters her apartment building.

Ash stares at where Serena was for a moment before he sighs and begins walking back to Dawn's house. Deep down, he still wishes that somehow he can become more than just friends with the snarky, honey-blonde woman, but at the same time he feels happy because this also means he can start to spend more time with her.

Maybe...just maybe that will be enough.


	3. Chapter 3

For the next few weeks, Ash and Serena began to text and eventually email each other almost regularly. And for the most part, Ash has grown to be content as he sends messages and otherwise hangout with the girl he likes.

To: QueenoftheSnarks2362

From: ThatguyfromtheAttic1131

Hi Serena,

So I had to really dig through the internet, but I found out what Fool's Gold is. Apparently, it's this sandwich where you take an entire loaf of white Johtoian bread (has to be white, very important), then you coat it with butter and cook it, then you cut it in half and take the inside out. Next, you fill one half of it with an entire 10 oz jar of peanut butter and the other half with an entire 10 oz jar of jam then you stuff it with a pound of bacon. The website says it serves 8-10 people or one DJ Leo. So now we know.

Hey, I was also wondering, when did you decide you wanted to be an animator?

Also, there's a sushi place that opened last week if you'd like to check that out with me

Sincerely,

Ash

To: ThatguyintheAttic2362

From: Queenofthesnarks1131

Wassup, Ash?

Heck yeah, I'm a girl that's always down for sushi!

Thanks for looking that up. Honestly, I don't know whether or not I should be fascinated with this information or to shout 'Ew, gross!' Fool's Gold sounds like a really unique sandwich, and you had me at an entire jar of jam. But the peanut butter and bacon… I mean, for one thing, peanut butter has like, 6,000 calories and bacon is technically just fat, so it doesn't even count as food. So I don't know if we should either find a place where they serve that or make it ourselves, or decide that it's not worth the calories. Definitely should make an appointment with our cardiologists if we do try it! I refuse to die like DJ Leo, you hear?

Honestly, I just always liked the idea making cartoon drawings move. I could not trade doing that for anything. In fact, you know what? My boss, Palermo recently offered me a job to transfer to Sinnoh for a year for some managing position and I said no because I want to stay an animator.

Keep on texting me! I command it!

Serena

To:Queenofthesnarks2362

From: ThatguyintheAttic1131

Heya Sere,

Hey, sushi was great. We should definitely visit that place again.

I doubt we would need a cardiologist if we're going to try just small portions of Fool's Gold as opposed to a whole loaf for each of us.

Wow, that's cool that you wanted to stay an animator. Honestly, I've never been good at saying no to my superiors at practically anything. If it were me, I'd say yes even though I get uneasy about staying in another region even with the raise I would get for that kind of job. So I could never do what you do.

Ttyl,

Ash

To:ThatguyintheAttic2362

From: Queenofthesnarks1131

Ash

Dude, don't call me Sere. I hate that nickname. My friends in high school called me that all the time and I've hated it since. It's just too short and blunt.

No offense, but what do you know when you're a medical school drop out?

Speaking of which, I haven't found how much feces were in DJ Leo's colon when he died, but I did find out how he heard about Fool's Gold. Apparently, he was dating the super actress, Diantha at the time and she learned about the sandwich while guest starring in some murder drama TV show where the episode was partly about Fool's Gold. The couple got so interested when she told him about it that they asked the writer and he said he got the inspiration from this small restaurant he went to in Viridian City. So, because they're super rich and all, they made an order for two of the sandwiches on the phone and so they flew from Alola to Viridian City in a private jet, pick up the food which was delivered to the place, eat them, and fly back without ever leaving the plane. FYI, it turns out that the day they did that was the day my parents got married, so how about that? :p

You sound like my coworkers Shauna and Nini when you bring up the raise like that. But even with that raise, I wouldn't do it because I love being in Kalos and I just couldn't stand being a whole year away without my friends and especially my Calem. The poor guy would break into tears without me in his arms before it's been a month. (P.S. if you ever meet Calem, don't tell him I said that.)

BTW, there's a yogurt place down in Bessy Street that's supposed to be pretty good. I haven't tried it yet because Calem is lactose-intolerant, but if you have the time, I could use the company.

Later,

Serena

To:QueenoftheSnarks2362

From: ThatguyintheAttic1131

Serena,

Oops sorry. :(

True, but my dad is a cardiologist and since he couldn't find a babysitter most of the time, I had to spend a lot of time in hospitals long enough to know that a smaller cut of Fool's Gold will not be as deadly as eating the whole loaf.

All the way in my home region of Kanto you say? Interesting. Maybe I should look into it if I ever decided to go back for a visit.

My lips are sealed.

Yeah, I'd be happy to.

Ttyl, Ash.

To: ThatguyintheAttic1131

From: QueenoftheSnarks2362

Ash,

All good, just don't call me that again or I'll kick your foot the next time we hang out.

Well, aren't we a Mr. Smarty Pants? :p lol.

By the by, we are soooooooo going to that yogurt place again. No questions, that was just too good.

Also, Calem and I are having a little dinner party with my sister at his place on Saturday. Do you wanna come?

Laters,

Serena

Ash stares at Serena's latest email through his phone nervously. He feels both flattered and uneasy that Serena is inviting him to hang out with her boyfriend and sister after sending emails to each other over the course of a couple of weeks. He wants to maintain the friendship he's been building with her if for no other reason than to please the snarky honey blonde woman, but at the same time, he knows he's falling in love with her the more he spends time with her or talks to her online.

As he thinks about this from his attic bedroom, however, his phone vibrates and he takes without to find he has a message from Brock.

 _Brock: Hey, I'm going to get Holly a housewarming gift. Help me find one._

"If it starts dirty, then it ends dirty," Brock says as he and Ash browse through a shop. "A relationship that starts with a breakup will ultimately end with a breakup. Do you know who said that?"

"Me, after you made out with Ivy during her boyfriend's keg party, and you wanted her to ditch him and date you." Ash says while looking at a strange painting. "And I recall you openly ignoring that advice and calling me silly and messing with my hair before professing your 'undying love' to her."

"Right, and how did that end up?" Brock asks.

"It ended very dirty. 'Fistfight and you crying like a little boy' dirty to be exact," Ash answers. "But this isn't the same thing. I'm not trying to break Serena and her boyfriend up. I'm perfectly happy just being her friend."

Brock scoffs and turns to Ash with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure you are," he says nudging Ash's side with his elbow. "Seriously though, this dinner party is a terrible idea. Normally, I wouldn't mind you trying to mess things up between a girl and her boyfriend. Heck, with her sister there, I would rejoice at the statistically tiny but mathematical possibility of you hooking up with both of them if for no other reasons than to help you out of your shyness and to really show Miette if you ever have the misfortune of seeing her cheating face again. But Serena is my cousin."

"But you're taking this way out of proportion," Ash protests. "You're just saying that because you can't say anything without screwing things up without making out with every pretty woman you meet but I can because I'm more mature than you."

Brock laughs uncontrollably and runs his fingers through Ash's hair much to the shorter shy man's annoyance.

"That is really cute that you think so, little buddy," Brock coos. "Anyway, do you think Holly will like this?"

Brock presents an oddly shaped rock statue of a seagull holding a large green branch.

"Uh… it's different," Ash answers scratch his head. "Why are you getting get a housewarming gift anyway? She's moving to your house."

"Yeah, but girls are really into this stuff and I'd rather overcompensate just in case," Brock says with a grin.

Ash shakes his head in disbelief.

"I still find it hard to believe you're this serious about you two living together," he tells his friend honestly.

"Really? I thought you'd be happy for me," Brock says.

"Well, I guess I am, but it's hard to believe that you are taking things this far after a month," Ash says hesitantly. "I mean in the years that we've known each other, you've never been this serious with any woman at any point whatsoever. Not with Jenny, Joy, Summer, Sophie, Lisa, or even when you managed to date all seven of Gary's ex-girlfriends at once back when the three of us were still roommates."

"Well, I am really crazy about Holly," Brock says.

"That's what you said about Florinda before you found out about her boyfriend,"," Ash points out dryly.

"Yeah, but I connect more with Holly," Brock says sincerely. "We just… I don't know, we enjoy each other's company more than I have with any other woman. It's weird I know, but so is a shy guy like you enjoying time with a no-nonsense, snarky woman like Serena."

Ash opens his mouth to protest, but he closes it knowing saying he's not going to try to break Serena and Calem up will fall on deaf ears and even then Brock has a point.

"Alright, I guess that's fair," he says defeated.

"So are you still going?" Brock asks.

"Well, I already said I would, so yeah," Ash says. "Besides, odds are Serena will hunt me down and drag me to her apartment if I don't."

Brock chuckles in amusement.

"You're walking in dangerous waters, little buddy," he says before he turns to call out to the store manager. "How much for the stone seagull?"

Later that night, Serena is in her apartment with her boyfriend, Calem and her younger sister, Lillie. Calem is cutting vegetables to get ready for the dinner party with a friendly smile while Serena and Lillie as sitting on the couch with Lillie drinking wine with a bitter look on her face.

"This is such a travesty," she snarls. "It's the worst thing that's ever happened in world history!"

"Worse than a meteor killing the dinosaurs?" Serena asks with an amused smirk.

"Yes, obviously my breakup is worse than a big rock killing a bunch of dumb lizards," Lillie rebukes.

Serena keeps her amused smirk before she sighs and looks at her sister sympathetically.

"I can't believe Kiawe cheated on you," she says. "And I really liked him too."

"I know, right? And he cheated on me with some Alolan waitress no doubt!" Lillie whines. "She must have been figuring out how to make rat-faced whore stew or something. I mean I liked Kiawe so much that I don't even want to make out with all of his guy friends as payback...well I mean I will, but I won't enjoy it."

Serena frowns at her sister's words.

"You know, I get that you have your own unique way to rebound, but I think there's a less...skanky way to get back at Kiawe," she says.

"Nope, this is something I have to do," Lillie says firmly. "I'm making out with his friends and that's that."

"Even that short annoying one, Sophocles?" Serena asks.

Lillie opens her both before she realizes what her big sister is getting at and hesitates.

"Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeesssssss, even Sophocles," she says reluctantly.

Serena shakes her head disapprovingly as Lillie empties her glass, her mind clearly still debating on making out with Sophocles.

"Anyway, I better go," Lillie says with a hiccup. "I don't want to ruin your dinner party with my grief."

"No, stay," Serena says, stopping Lillie from standing up. "It'll be fine. It's not even really a dinner party. It's just a little get together with my new friend, Ash. Right, Calem?"

"Yeah, stay," Calem says with a bright smile as he cuts an onion. "Maybe this Ash could be a good rebound for you."

Lillie's eyes widen and she turns to Serena with a look of interest to Calem's idea. Serena looks at her sister worryingly as Lillie quickly stands up and runs over to the bathroom, likely to hang her jacket and look in the bathroom mirror to make herself look nice. For some unexplained reason, Serena feels uneasy about her boyfriend's idea and stands up and walks over to the kitchen to confront him.

"Why would you say that to her?" She asks, sounding displeased.

"What? What's the big deal?" Calem asks with a cheerful look. "I mean you want her to do something less slutty to move on, and Ash sounds like a really good guy who would be the last person to cheat on anyone, so what's wrong if they become an item? It sounds to me that it could do both of them good. I mean he's single, right?"

"Right…" Serena admits reluctantly. "But he's also pretty delicate. I don't know if he could handle Lillie's… charisma."

"Why not? He apparently can handle yours," Calem says with a playful smirk.

Serena turns to her boyfriend with a mean glare which doesn't faze his playful attitude.

"You're lucky you're a tall figure of pure cuteness," she growls poking his nose.

"And I'm lucky I'm your tall figure of pure cuteness," Calem says kissing her finger.

"Yes, you are," Serena says pleased with his response before she leans in to give Calem a firm kiss.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings and Serena loudly announces, "I'll get it!" before running to the front door to find Ash on the other side.

"There you are," she greets before looking at her watch. "And look at that, 6 o'clock on the dot just like I demanded. Thank you."

"Yeah, you're welcome," Ash replies bashfully as Serena walks over to hug him, making him blush without her noticing. "I brought some wine."

"Ah, excellent," Serena says eagerly as she takes the bottle of wine from Ash's hand and looks at it with a grin while Ash hangs his coat. "We can always use some around here."

Ash gives Serena a nervous grin before she takes his hand and leads him to the kitchen.

"Calem, this is Ash, Ash, this is my boyfriend, Calem," Serena introduces. Before she walks away to fetch Lillie.

"Hi, Cale - YIKES!" Ash shouts as Calem turns to him with the cutting knife pointing right at his chest.

"Sorry about that, bro," Calem says with a cheeky grin as he puts away the knife, wipes his hands with a towel and shakes Ash's hand. "So you're Ash. Serena has told me everything about you."

"Oh, I certainly hope not," Ash says with an uneasy grin as Serena reenters the room with Lillie.

"Hey, Ash, this is my sister, Lillie," Serena introduces.

"Hi, Lillie," Ash greets as he takes out his hand with a friendly smile.

"Hi, Ash," Lillie says with a flirty grin as she hugs Ash and pecks him on the cheek. Ash blushes furiously for a brief moment before she breaks the hug and walks to the other side of the table to help Serena.

"Uh...duh...duh… is there anything I can do to help?" Ash manages to ask, still in a daze from Lillie's 'greeting.'

"Actually, yeah, would you mind opening that big window over there, buddy?" Calem asks in a neighborly tone. "It's getting kinda stuffy in here."

"Uh, yeah sure," Ash answers before walking over to the other side of the room to open the tall window next to the door connected to the hallway before joining the group.

"So, Ash," Calem says while cutting some peppers. "What are your thoughts on Kanto?"

"Kanto the region?" Ash asks confused.

"Ha! See? I told you!" Serena shouts boastfully.

"What?" Ask asks even more confused.

"Calem here thinks it shouldn't be called a region just because it's connected with Johto," Serena explains.

"Uh...well, if it isn't a region, then why is it called a region? Ash asks.

"Isn't it obvious?" Calem challenges with a grin. "The Kantoians just didn't want to be associated with the Johtoians and since they technically hold superiority in terms of government they claimed that the two are separate regions even though they are connected by land unlike anyone else. But in reality, they should just combine as one big region and be called Kanjohto."

"Typical Calem," Serena says shaking her head before turning to Ash. "My guy is always trying to turn the United Regions from the inside out."

"That's right, baby," Calem says proudly before he and Serena air kiss. Ash secretly winces at their affection before turning back to Calem.

"So what is it that you do Calem?" He asks.

"Oh, I'm a part of an international consortium of lawyers with a U.R. mandate to negotiate global copyright standards," Calem answers before giving Ash a suspicious glare and whispers. "But more importantly, are you trying to date my girlfriend?"

Ash's eyes widen as he freezes in place. Calem keeps his glare at him before he chuckles.

"It's okay, buddy. We're just having guy talk," he says in an assuring tone while turning to Serena and Lillie. "They still think we're talking about international copyright law. But seriously, I've no problem with the concept of Serena having guy friends, but if you're trying to split us up so that you can..."

"N-n-no, of course not," Ash manages to blurt out. "I wouldn't try anything if I could. I just want to be friends with her… and you."

"Good," Calem says pleased. "Friends is good. Friends is fine."

Ash sighs in relief and nods to Calem. Calem nods back and then rubs his eye to get rid of an itch.

"Ow...ow...OOOOWWW!" Calem screams as he drops the knife and shuts his eye in pain.

"Honey, are you alright?" Serena asks worryingly as Calem begins banging on the counter in pain. "Did you touch your face after cutting a jalapeno?"

"Yeah, I did," Calem whines in pain. "Ow! It's really burning!"

"Ash, you're the medical expert," Serena says determinedly, turning to Ash. "What do we do?"

"Uh...okay, well, do either of you have any saline solutions for contacts?" Ash asks, struggling to be calm.

"Yeah, I do. It's in the bathroom!" Calem squeals. "It's through the door next to the big window! Please hurry!"

Ash nods and runs to the entrance to the hallway next to the big window and finds his way to the bathroom. He opens the mirror door and starts looking through the cabinet while hearing Calem scream in pain as Serena and Lillie try to help him.

"Honey, try rubbing it with the rag," Ash hears Serena suggest.

"AHHHH! IT'S IN THE RAG! IT'S ON THE OTHER EYE! OH I'M BLIND! OW! OW! OWIE! OOOOOOWWWWWWW!" Calem screams hysterically.

Ash can't help but chuckle before he finds the medicine. He exits the bathroom and runs down the hall. But then he stops for a moment and notices pictures of Calem and Serena together hanging on the wall. He frowns and shakes his head sadly as he stares at a small picture of Serena hugging Calem from behind with a flirty smirk while Calem smiles happily. Ash continues to stare at the picture, not hearing Serena and Lillie trying to lead Calem to the door before he runs toward it on the other side.

Ash bashes the door open but feels it hitting someone on the other side. Serena and Lillie yelp and Ash looks around just in time to see Calem groaning in pain from getting hit by the door. Ash, Serena, and Lillie only have a moment to realize what's about to happen before Calem leans too close to the big window and falls off.

"CALEM!" Serena screams as she and Lillie run over to the window to find Calem lying on his front groaning.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Ash cries, panicking. "It was an accident and -"

"Just call 911 already!" Serena screams.

"911. Right! At once!" Ash says as he takes out his phone and waits for an operator to answers as he looks to see Calem with his hand twitching.

"I'M SORRY, CALEM!" he calls out. "YOU LOOK OKAY!"

"OOOOOHHHHHHH, IT HURTS ME! IT HURTS ME!" Calem cries loudly as he lies in bed inside the ambulance with Ash, Serena, Lillie, and a paramedic. "WHAT IF I NEVER WALK AGAIN!? WHAT IF I'M PARALYZED!?"

"You're not paralyzed," the paramedic says calmly. "I'm about to give you something for the pain to help you relax."

"But what if relax too much and I lose all my bodily functions and poop myself?" Calem weeps as Serena pets his head for comfort.

The paramedic sighs and turns to Serena, Ash and Lillie.

"You know, that sadly happens more often than you think," he says with a frown. "It's by far my least favorite part of this job."

Serena looks away from her injured boyfriend and gives the man a death glare.

"Dude, is that really the best thing to bring up when my man is crying in fear of crapping his pants in front of me?" She rebukes loudly. "Show some common sense and give him the shot already!"

The paramedic winces before he gulps and injects the medicine. Calem's cries begin to quiet down as he slowly loses consciousness. Serena sighs content and kisses Calem's forehead. Ash and Lillie sigh, relieved to no longer hear Calem's screams, but Ash secretly frowns at the sight of Serena lovingly comforting Calem.

Ten minutes later, they make it to the hospital. Serena, Ash, and Lillie sit down in the waiting room while the doctors work on Calem. Lillie rubs Serena's back for support as Serena stares at the wall eager for any news for her boyfriend's condition. Ash's guilt rises as he watches the woman he cares for be so worried.

"Serena, I'm really sorry," he whines. "I didn't mean to -"

"Don't," Serena says sharply, not looking at Ash. "Just...just don't, Ash. You didn't know that we were trying to guide him to the bathroom and we left that stupid window open. And it was Calem's fault for rubbing his eye after cutting jalapenos even though an idiot can figure out that was a bad idea. It was an accident so don't go crying over it."

Ash sighs, feeling a little better as a doctor enters the waiting room, making Serena stand up eagerly followed by Lillie and Ash.

"Give it to me straight, doc, how is he?" Serena demands worryingly.

"He's fine," The doctor says calmly. "His right arm had the most broken bones, so he'll need the cast for a few weeks. He'll have to wear a neck brace as a precaution for a few days, but he'll probably be out in the morning."

Serena, Lillie, and Ash sigh in relief.

"Can we see him?" Lillie asks.

"Yes, you can," the doctor says. "He's just down the hall, third door on the left. He's under a lot of medication right now, so he's not going to wake up until early in the morning."

Serena doesn't bother to thank the doctor as she storms to Calem's hospital room followed by Lillie and then Ash after he silently thanks the doctor. The three of them enter the room and stare at Calem as he sleeps soundlessly with a cast on his right arm, his right eye patched and the neck brace around his neck. Serena stares at her boyfriend with a sad look as she starts petting his head and running her fingers through his long, black hair. Lillie walks behind her sister and puts her hand on Serena's shoulder for support.

"Are you gonna stay here all night?" Lillie asks.

Serena nods her head robotically.

"How about you, Ash?" Lillie asks turning to the short man.

"Uh...yeah, I think it's only fair after I did knock him out of the window whether I meant to or not," Ash says. "Besides, even if Serena forgives me, I'd like to formally apologize to him when he wakes up.

The two Yvonne sisters turn to Ash and give him small appreciative smiles before Lillie turns back to Serena.

"Well, if the two of you are going to spend the night, I can wait here with Calem to let you guys get something to eat," she suggests.

Serena hesitates at the idea of leaving Calem behind but eventually sighs and nods in agreement.

"The cafeteria is closed by now, but I did see a sandwich vending machine near the elevator," Ash suggests.

"Sure, whatever. Let's just go," Serena mumbles as she takes Ash's hand and drags him out the room. Ash, sighs, used to this before he points to where the vending machine is. He begins looking through the options while Serena stares over at where Calem's room is.

"What are you going to get?" she asks without looking.

"I guess I'm gonna do with the tuna salad," Ash says as he puts money in the slot and makes his selection before Serena turns around to make her decision.

"Ash, have I mentioned how much I hate hospitals?" she asks.

"A couple of times from our past get-togethers," Ash answers.

"Well, I do," she says bluntly. "I just hate all the waiting and seeing people sick or injured. It's just so unsettling to me."

"Yeah, well remember I used to go to hospitals a lot when my parents couldn't find a babysitter, so I think I have it worse," Ash points out.

"Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning your dad worked at one," Serena says, turning to Ash with a sad look.

"Actually, both of my parents did," Ash says.

"Really?" Serena asks sounding slightly surprised.

"Yeah, they met as surgical interns," Ash replies. "He does cardiology like I said while she does orthopedics. He actually proposed to her on the roof of Charing Cross Hospital in Vermillion City."

"That sounds romantic," Serena says with a small smile.

"Yeah, until the affairs happened," Ash says glumly, making Serena frown. "She cheated on him, he cheated on her. The whole thing was just a big mess."

"I'm sorry," Serena says sympathetically. "How old were you when they got divorced?"

"About seven," Ash says, staring at his sandwich coldly. "Frankly, Dawn and I rarely ever talk to them anymore. They may have influenced me to go to medical school, but either way, we're both pretty disgusted with them to say the very least. Honestly, a lot of my views about love comes from the way my parents felt about each other both before and during the time they cheated on each other."

Serena's frown deepens, feeling devastated that such acts from her friend's parents affect his views on love in such a way. Without thinking about it, she wraps her arm around him and pulls him into a side hug. Ash whimpers quietly, taken aback by her action before smiling at Serena appreciatively and accepting the hug. The two of them stay like this, enjoying each other's presence until they hear a female voice coming from behind them.

"Ash?"

Ash's heart sinks hard and his frown returns as he and Serena turn around to look at who is speaking to him. Standing right behind them wearing a doctor uniform is a woman with short blue hair and orange eyes that stare at Ash with a look of pain and anguish. Ash struggles to keep his feelings under control as Serena looks back and forth between Ash and the blue-haired woman.

"Ash, what are you doing here? Are you sick?" the blue-haired woman asks before turning to Serena, feeling disquieted by the honey-blonde woman's presence. "And who is she?"

Ash takes a deep breath before he calmly answers her.

"No, I'm not sick. This is Serena and we're here because her boyfriend fell out of a window."

He takes another deep breath before reluctantly turning to Serena.

"Serena, this is Miette, my...well nothing in particular," he introduces.

Miette winces harshly at the way Ash introduced her. She turns to Serena with a pleading look.

"Do you want me to look in on your boyfriend? " she asks.

"No, that won't be necessary," Ash says sharply before Serena speaks. "He's okay. He just needs to rest for the night."

Serena turns to Ash, shocked at seeing this harsh side of him. She turns back to Miette who sighs and looks at the two of them with a look of defeat.

"I gotta go. We only get 15 minutes to eat lunch," she says before looking at the vending machine. "Don't get the bagel with smoked salmon, or the tuna salad or really anything is seafood in it. The company that stocks the vending machine has failed four health inspections but the manager's brother works for the mayor's office."

Ash and Serena look at each other and then look at their containers of sandwiches, suddenly not feeling hungry.

"I'm sorry," Miette says, realizing what she said. "I've been on shift for 18 hours and I'm really tired and I had so much coffee, and when I saw her, I thought she was your new girlfriend and that made me want to bawl my eyes out right here...it's weird that I'm saying this out loud, right?"

"You are and it is," Ash growls quietly.

Miette's frown deepens as she walks a step closer to Ash, making him take a step back. Serena stands there, uncomfortable with what is going on.

"Look, Ash, I just...I just want to be friends," Miette begs. "If I can't get you back, then I would like nothing more than for us to at least be friends. Maybe not today, but someday."

Ash looks away from Miette with a cold look, which seems to break Miette's heart even further. She turns to Serena and gives her a look of pure desperation.

"Don't believe everything he's told you," she claims. "Whatever he said about me, it wasn't a black and white situation."

"He hasn't said anything about you," Serena says. "In fact, he's never even mentioned you."

Miette's eyes widen and she whimpers softly at this information. She turns back to Ash who doesn't say anything.

"Oh...okay," Miette says sadly. "I...I hope your boyfriend gets better."

"Thank you," Serena says as Miette walks past Ash and Serena and gives Ash one last sad look before exiting the hall.

Ash and Serena remain quiet for a few seconds. Serena looks at her raven-haired friend, feeling uneasy after seeing him act so coldly towards someone. It's a side of him she hopes she's never seen before and hopes she never sees again.

"So…" she says, trying to break the tension.

Ash sighs before turning to Serena with a sincere apologetic look.

"I'm sorry for the horrible awkward situation you just witnessed," he says.

"That's...that's okay," Serena replies, secretly thankful that he's starting to act like the Ash she knows. "So Miette is…?"

"My ex-girlfriend," Ash answers for her.

Serena nods in acknowledgment before she looks away and struggles to think about what to say next.

"Do you...want to talk about it?" she asks.

For a moment, Ash doesn't say anything. Then he finally looks at Serena in the eye and gives her a small smile.

"That sounds nice," he says appreciatively. "But...no, I don't. Not right now anyway. But...someday."

"Promise?" Serena asks.

"Yeah, promise," Ash says.

Serena gives a small smile, feeling that he means what he's saying. Then, with a big sigh, she wraps her arm around him again and tries to act in control of the situation again.

"Come on, let's start waiting for you to apologize to Calem," she orders as she leads Ash back to Calem's room. All the while, Ash feels a sense of happiness to have Serena by his side in a supportive way.

Even if he doesn't want to admit it, He wishes this moment could last forever.


	4. Chapter 4

Much to both Serena and Ash's relief, Calem did wake up early in the morning and was released from the hospital within the hour. Ash apologized to Calem about a dozen times or so on the way back to Vaniville Town before the couple stopped him with Calum patting him firmly on the back and Serena rebuking him with a half-playful slap upside the head. Ash felt better despite needing to rub his head in pain before they go their separate ways. Ash and Serena continue to message each other via text and email and hang out whenever they have the time. Meanwhile, Calem slowly begins to heal and decides to put a lock on the window upon Serena's personal...request.

A couple of weeks have passed since the disastrous dinner at Calem's apartment, and Serena is at her job in the Showcase Animation Company. In a few hours, the guy who took the general managing job, Alain, will be flying to Sinnoh to aid their animation branch there for a year. Serena's boss, Palermo decided to host a going away party in the entire floor to send Alain off. Serena and many other employees including her friends Shaunna and Nina surround the main hall where Palermo and Alain are standing at the center.

"Artists, workers, good friends," Palermo call out with a proud grin. "Soon, Alain will be heading off to meet with our partners in Sinnoh. I think I speak for everyone in the company when I say we expect great things from him."

Shaunna and Nina scoff in disgust as they reluctantly listen to their boss' speech with Serena.

"Alain, do you have anything to say?" Palermo asks.

"I sure do," Alain says as he steps in with a proud grin. "My fellow animators, it really is an honor to be given this position. I thought I would be waiting for years for this moment, but it looks like I am actually the best person for the job."

"The dickens you are," Nina hisses quietly. "You're only standing there because Serena let you. "

Serena shushes her friend as Alain continues.

"You can be sure I'm going to work hard and get the project off the ground before you know it," he says. "What else can I say but viva Sinnoh!"

Everyone politely applauds and Palermo thanks Alain before she says, "Alright, everyone, enjoy the cake and be sure to say your personal goodbyes, then get back to work."

The crowd disperses to quietly eat cake with only a small group of people coming to wish Alain luck. Serena sighs quietly before walking away toward her desk followed by Shaunna and Nina.

"Seriously, Serena, how could you turn down the position?" Shaunna whines. "You started the project, it's your animation, and everyone knows that Alain is a slacker."

"I know," Serena says. "But the managing position involves more paperwork and business meetings. Plus, I don't know anyone in Sinnoh and I would be away from all of my family and friends."

"Yeah, but that's no excuse to have Alain get the position," Shaunna protests.

"Shaunna, leave her alone," Nina says. " Serena is right. She's got a nice life here with friends like me, kind of you, and let's not forget her relationship with Calem."

"Exactly!" Serena says with a proud smirk. "I love that hunk way too much to leave him for a year. He doesn't even have it in his heart to be away from me for more than a couple days before he returns to my arms right where I want him. Nothing in the universe is going to break us apart and neither of us will let it."

Shaunna and Nina smile and sigh blissfully at their friend's boast.

"I envy you two," Shaunna says. "Five years together and still in love with that tall figure of pure cuteness. It's a wonder he hasn't proposed to you yet."

"Well, we always wanted to wait a long time before thinking that far," Serena says confidently. "Either way though, Calem is mine and I intend to keep him mine."

Shaunna and Nina giggle and nod in agreement before walking away to go back to work. Serena smirks and thinks about her relationship with Calem some more before she quietly begins drawing again. She works for about five minutes before she hears her phone vibrating in her jean pocket. She takes it out and smiles as she sees she has a text from Calem before she opens it.

 _Calem: Hey, baby. Can we meet at Floyd's restaurant as soon as you get off from work? I need to talk to you._

Serena frowns and looks at the text message with a concerned look in her eyes before she replies.

 _Serena: Is everything alright?_

 _Calem: Everything is fine. Everything is great, actually. I promise to explain everything when I meet you there._

 _Serena: Okay, love you._

 _Calem: Love you more!_

Serena smiles at his reply before she puts her phone away and begins to draw again. Suddenly, she stops drawing again as she thinks she thinks he might be asking her to come there to propose to her. Her smirk grows in excitement as she drops her drawing pencil and stares at her hand, imagining a small ring on her finger.

"All mine," Serena says with a big grin.

Meanwhile, later in the afternoon, Ash escorted his nephew, Jeffery to his karate tournament. Since Dawn can't come because of work, she asked Ash to take her son there while Brock decides to join him with Holly to support Jeffery. As the three adults cheer for the ten-year-old boy while he fights another boy from another school, Holly leaves to get drinks while Ash and Brock have a conversation while watching the tournament.

"No, I'm not saying you can't do it, it just will be incredibly toxic," Ash says.

"But it won't kill you," Brock argues. "You can eat your own poop, but if you eat it again, it'll be so toxic that you'll die. So you can eat your poop once but not twice."

Ash groans, uncomfortable with the conversation.

"I wish I NEVER told you how much I was learning when I was in medical school," he whines.

"Well, then our talks would be less interesting, little buddy," Brock says with a grin.

Ash groans in annoyance as Holly confess back with three plastic cups. She hand two of them to Brock and Ash and already begins sipping hers before Ash realizes what's in them.

"Holy cow, how did you get alcohol in a kids karate tournament?" Ash asks in shock.

"A lady doesn't tell," Holly says with a smirk, much to Brock's amusement and Ash's unease. "Anyway, Ash, we don't talk very much. We should get to know each other. Maybe we can start talking about tree big issues of our time."

"Uh...like what?" Ash asks.

"Oh I don't know," Holly says sarcastically. "Maybe gay marriage, abortion, net neutrality, can men and women be friends or do you secretly want to get with Serena Yvonne.

Ash gives Brock a death glare, realizing that he told his new girlfriend about him and Serena before turning to Holly.

"She has a boyfriend," he growls under his teeth.

"Who you apparently knocked out of a window," Holly says with a smirk.

"By accident!" Ash shouts. "Seriously, Brock, how much did you tell her?"

"Hey, it doesn't matter what he told me," Holly says as she begins to caress Brock's cheek affectionately. "Your 'If it starts dirty it ends dirty' argument is crap anyway. I mean when I was at Brock's party I totally forgot that I already had a boyfriend until the next day."

"What?!" Ash shouts, turning to Brock who shrugs.

"Hey, I didn't know she had one until then either," he claims. "She really did forget until the next day."

"Oh, come on, that's ridiculous," Ash rebukes. "You can't just enjoy some stranger's company so much that you forget that you're dating someone else. That's impossible."

"Yes, and yet Brock and I found a way," Holly says with a flirtatious smile. "Face it, Ash, love is dirty. Sometimes it's just downright filthy."

Without another word, Brock and Holly begin to make out passionately.

"Why me?" Ash whines as he turns to watch the tournament in order to distract himself from the loud sounds of his best friend and his girlfriend moving their lips together sloppily.

Finally, the karate tournament ends with Jeffrey making second place. Ash, Brock, and Holly congratulate the boy before Ash begins to escort his nephew back home and so they say their goodbyes to Brock and Holly. Ash and Jeffrey come home just in time to see Dawn come home and happily congratulate her son for winning his trophy. Ash smiles at the happy moment with his sister and nephew before he feels his phone vibrating.

 _Serena: Hey, you doing anything right now?_

 _Ash: Not at the moment, why?_

 _Serena: Meet me at the front entrance_ to _my apartment building in ten minutes and bring an umbrella. It's gonna be pouring soon._

By the time Ash made it to Serena's apartment building, it already starts to rain hard. Ash knocks on the front door and it isn't long before it opens to reveal Serena with a sad look on her face.

"Hey, Ash," she says bluntly.

"Uh... hey Serena," Ash greets. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," she answers.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Ash asks.

"No," she answers.

"Uh...okay, why did you ask me over then?" Ash asks confused.

"Because I just found out that I need a new dress for a company dinner with some of our partners in Hoenn, and I want a guy with me as my escort and judge in whatever dress I try," Serena answers with her arms crossed.

"Okay...so why me and not Calem?" Ash asks.

Serena's commanding frown fades for a moment before she answers, "Because I don't feel like having him with me right now."

Ash stares at her even more confused. He begins to wonder if something bad happened between Serena and Calem. He starts to think this might be a chance to turn the tables into his favor before he shakes it off, feeling ashamed at the idea. His frown deepens as the look of pain in Serena's commanding eyes seem to look clearer.

"Did you guys...have a fight?" He asks.

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it," Serena snarls.

Ash winces at her rude responds and sighs, knowing what he has to do.

"Okay how about this, I'll be your escort if you talk to me about what's up," he proposes. "It might help if you talk to someone about it."

For a moment, Serena doesn't say anything. Ash grows worried that he overstepped as she looks at him with a displeased glare. Finally, Serena sighs.

"Fine," she says. "Let's start walking, and I'll talk on the way. Deal?"

"Deal," Ash says appreciatively.

Serena smiles briefly before she gestures Ash to follow her with her hand. Ash catches up with her, opens his umbrella and holds it over him and Serena. For a few minutes, they walk down the street as Ash eagerly waits to hear what Serena has to say.

"So Ash," Serena begins. "Before I explain anything, I need to ask you a hypothetical question."

"Uh...okay," Ash says.

Serena takes a deep breath and stops walking, making Ash stop walking and turns to face her as she speaks.

"So, say a guy texts his girlfriend asking to meet him after work, tells her that everything is great and then when they meet, he begins explaining by stating how long they have been together and then says he believes their relationship is built to last. With all of that said, what do you think he's going to say next?"

Ash stares at Serena for a moment before he scratches his head in thought.

"Well, off the top of my head, he's either suggesting they move in together or sleep together for the first time or more than likely is about to propose to her," he says.

"Thank you!" Serena snaps in irritation. "And here I was thinking only women think that's what the guy is going to say. So, it's not just them, guys know that too...well, most guys anyway."

Ash bites his lip, unsure of what to say next before Serena starts walking again and he quickly follows her, trying to cover her head with the umbrella as she speaks.

"See, I get a text from Calem and he wants us to meet at Floyd's Restaurant to talk about something, and when we meet, he starts by saying how we've been dating for five years and so he thinks our relationship is supposed to last," Serena explains. "And the entire time between when he texted me and when he said that I was pretty sure he was going to propose to me because, hey, your other two guesses are things we agreed are for after marriage, so where else would he be going with that if not proposing to me, right?"

Ash nods and reluctantly says, "And I guess he didn't propose?"

Serena huffs in annoyance and crosses her arms again as she walks.

"Nope," she growls. "Instead, he tells me that he has been asked to take charge in the Kanto negotiations. It's a 6-month contract where he would basically have to live in Kanto where he would have to live in Cerulean City and also travel around the region."

Ash looks at Serena surprised.

"Wow, is he thinking about accepting the offer?" He asks.

"Not thinking, did!" Serena snarls. "He already accepted the job without even asking me! He just knew that I would support him no matter the long distance because I'm his girlfriend of 5 years who always has his back."

"What did you do?" Ash asks.

"Well, what else could I do?" Serena remarks. "I obviously had to say yes, go be lead negotiator. It's what he's always dreamed of and I look like a terrible girlfriend if I told him no, I want you to stay with me!"

"But you do want him to stay," Ash states.

Serena sighs sadly and says, "Obviously. I mean what hurts is that I really thought he was going to propose, and I thought both of us would never have even dreamed of putting our careers before our relationship, but then while I decline to be the manager for my company's project over in Sinnoh for a year Calem apparently didn't hesitate to be lead negotiator in Kanto."

"Yeah, and it's also surprising since you kept claiming that he can't stand to be away for you for more than a few days," Ash says.

"Exactly!" Serena shouts, with her hands in the air before she drops her head sadly.

Ash bites his lip and says, "Or maybe it's just you who can't stand to be away from him."

"Yeah, I guess so," Serena admits. "I wish he just asked if it was okay instead of just assuming our relationship is going to be okay for the next six months. It's just so inconsiderate and I hate that I can't say no because it's his dream."

Ash looks at Serena sympathetically as the two of them stop walking because they are waiting to cross the road. Serena sighs sadly again and looks away from Ash. Deep down, it hurts Ash to see the woman he likes be so sad. He puts his hand on Serena's shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Hey, it'll be alright," Ash says with a small smile. "I mean it's not like he's staying there for six years and you can still call or Skype him whenever you want."

"I guess," Serena says robotically, not looking at Ash. "It's not the same as coming to my place or his to make out and cuddle with him as much as I want after work though."

Ash winces at the mention of Serena kissing and cuddling with another guy. His mind begins to drift at the idea of Serena passionately making out with him and her sleeping on his chest with her arms wrapped around him. He quickly shakes the thoughts out of his mind as Serena turns to him.

"Anyway, let's not dwell on me and my boyfriend," she says. "We have some shopping to do."

"Uh...yeah, right," Ash says with a weak smile as they cross the road and make it to the dress store. Ash shakes the water from the top of his umbrella before he enters the store just in time to see Serena already looking at the dresses.

"Ah, home sweet home," she says with a happy grin before a red dress on a mannequin catches her eye. She runs over to it and smiles brightly, much to Ash's amusement.

"I take it you want that one?" He asks, trying to keep himself from chuckling.

"I sure do, Mr. Ketchum," Serena says with a smirk. "This is so mine, no questions. Love at first sight I say. Excuse me, ma'am."

The woman standing at the front desk walks over to Serena and Ash and asks, "Yes, may I help you?"

"You certainly can," Serena says pointing at the mannequin. "I'd like to try on this dress, please."

The woman frowns nervously and says, "We only have the one left and it's a size two. Are you a two?"

"Yes," Serena answers proudly.

The woman's frown deepens as she looks at Serena's figure with an uneasy look in her eyes.

"Excuse me a moment, I'm going to get the measuring tape," she says.

Serena gives the woman a menacing glare and growls, "I. Am. A. Two."

The venom in her voice sends shivers down the woman's spine.

"O-o-of course, Madame. My mistake," she says nervously. "Please come right this way to our fitting rooms and I will have the dress delivered right away."

"Thank you," Serena says with her proud smirk returning. She gestures Ash to come along and he silently follows her to the fitting rooms. The woman from the desk guides Serena to one of the rooms and Serena enters with a smile. As the woman leaves to retrieve the dress, Ash decides to find a spot against the wall to lean on, take out his phone and play a game on it while he waits. The woman eventually comes back and brings the dress to Serena's fitting room on a hanger and then leaves for Serena to try it on.

For a few minutes, Ash just plays on his phone, waiting for Serena. As he played, he began to imagine how beautiful she will look wearing the dress. The dress itself looks pretty by itself but in his eyes, Serena is purely beautiful as she is unbearably snarky. It seems kind of cruel that for Calem's brief moment of presuming Serena's feelings about their relationship, Serena would want to show herself in this red dress to Ash first instead of her boyfriend of five years.

Then, he lowers his phone and wonders if he ever could become her boyfriend. It seems like there's a chance that maybe within a few months things between her and Calem will fall apart because of the long distance. But then it might take a while for Serena to want to date anyone as she would probably be too brokenhearted. The idea makes Ash frown as it was hard enough to see her sad just because her boyfriend is going to be away from her for so long, and he doesn't even want to imagine how hard it would be to see her feel much worse. And even if Ash does find a chance to date her, he doesn't know if she would ever feel the same way. On the other hand, Serena found a way to find love with someone so friendly and upbeat like Calem, so the idea of her dating someone shy like Ash doesn't seem too impossible. But then again, if she felt that way about him, maybe they wouldn't be just friends and just jump into dating like Brock and Holly. The more Ash thinks about it, the more he doesn't know what to do with, everything going against him. It seems like deep down the only that that's clear is that he's falling for Serena and there isn't a darn thing he can do about it.

"Ash."

Ash breaks his train of thought as he hears Serena whisper loudly from her fitting room. Ash hesitates thinking he was imagining it until she spoke again.

"Ash, are you alone?" Serena whispers.

"Uh...like, in the universe," Ash asks confused.

"No, I mean in the hallway," Serena answers.

"Erm, yes," Ash replies, unsure of where this is going. "Do you need me to get you any help?"

"No! No, please don't!" Serena begs with a hint of panic in her voice. "I just...I need you to come in here."

Ash blushes furiously.

"W-w-what?" He manages to say.

"I'm in the middle of taking the dress off and I'm kinda stuck so I need you to close your eyes, crawl under the door and help me get it off," Serena says.

"What?" Ash says panicking. "Can't I just get the woman from the front desk."

"No! No, I don't want her help, just get over here," Serena begs desperately. "Just help me get it off and keep your eyes closed. Please, Ash!"

Ash's face is red all over at this point. The whole thing makes him uncomfortable, but at the same time, he really wants to help Serena because of the desperation in her voice. Finally, he sighs and decides to bite the bullet.

"Okay, I'll help," he says.

"Do you promise to close your eyes and keep them closed?" Serena asks.

"Yes, I promise," Ash says sincerely.

"Thank you, Ash," Serena says appreciatively.

"You're welcome," Ash says with a small smile for her appreciation as he gets down on all fours and closes his eyes. "I'm coming in."

"Okay, and remember, eyes closed," Serena says firmly.

"Understood," Ash says as he begins crawling under the door into the fitting room. He carefully stands up, until he is facing Serena.

"Ash, are you in here?" Serena asks. "I can't see you because the dress is covering my face."

"Yes, I'm here," Ash says nervously. "W-what exactly do you need me to do?"

Serena takes a deep breath and says, "Okay, here's what happened. I tried it on and I think it got hooked on my bra or something, and now I can't get it off."

Ash grows even more uncomfortable at Serena's explanation and fights off an embarrassed whimper.

"You're not gonna laugh, are you?" Serena asks.

"No, I'm not," Ash says as calmly as he can. "I can't even see what's going on. I mean I don't know if I"m facing the front of you or the back."

"I think the front," Serena says.

"Uh...okay," Ash says before he gulps silently. "Then, since the problem is in the back, you should turn your back on me."

"Are you sure?" Serena says nervously. "You're going to keep your eyes closed, right?"

"Yes, I promise," Ash assures.

"Okay, I'm turning around," Serena says.

With his eyes closed, as hears Serena move until her back is facing him. He takes a deep breath before he stretches out his arms until he feels her back. Ash feels the heat on his face increase as he carefully finds where the dress is stuck and carefully begins to lift it off of Serena. He manages to get it all the way up to Serena's shoulders until it gets stuck and Serena whimpers uncomfortably.

"It's okay, it's okay," Ash says as calmly as possible.

"No, it's stuck again," Serena says worryingly.

"Okay, why don't you turn around and face me," Ash suggests.

Serena quietly obeys and turns to face Ash. Ash begins to get Serena unstuck again until he subconsciously opens his eyes to see the dress covering Serena's arms in the air and all of her face except for her lips. Ash's eyes are glued to her lips, however, and his mind begins to think about how wonderful it would be to feel them pressed again his. For a moment, his head leans closer to her as it to kiss her before he snaps out of it and steps back. He shakes his head to get the thoughts out of his mind before he closes his eyes and gets the dress completely off of Serena. Serena sighs in relief and smiles at Ash as she sees him standing there with his eyes shut.

"Thank you," she says softly.

"No worries," Ash says. "Should I hold on to the dress while you change.

"Mmmm-hmmm," Serena answers.

Serena turns around to grab her clothes before she suddenly stops. She turns back to Ash and debates about something in her mind. She decides to learn closer to him to check that he really has his eyes shut and her appreciative smile grows when she sees that they are. But suddenly, she finds herself leaning closer to him. Her eyes are suddenly fixed on Ash's lips and her lead leans closer to them as if they are the most interesting thing in the world. But then she stops with her lips only a couple inches away from his before she mentally shakes her head, turns around and changes back into her clothes. When she's completely dressed, she sighs before turning to Ash.

"Okay, I'm dressed. You can open your eyes now," she says.

Ash sighs in relief as he opens his eyes.

"Let's...uh...let's not to that again," he says.

Serena snickers lightly at his comment.

"Yes, I can tell from your face that was too much to bear," she says with her snarky grin returning, making Ash turn even redder. Ash, nervously struggles to say any words before he finds Serena hugging him tightly and whispering, "Seriously, Ash, thank you."

Though the hug doesn't stop him from blushing, the appreciation in her voice and embrace makes Ash feels better. He smiles kindly and tightly hugs her back.

"What are friends for?" he says despite feeling a little pain in his heart for saying the for "friends."

The two of them hold each other for a couple of moments before Serena break the hug, much to Ash's disappointment.

"Well, now to buy this beauty," Serena says with a grin.

"You're still going to buy it?" Ash asks confused.

"Of course, doofus," Serena says, lightly slapping Ash upside the head in a playful way. "I said it's mine no questions, and I meant it. Sure I'm going to need to adjust it a little so this doesn't happen again, but that's never stopped me from getting what I want before."

Ash can't help but chuckle in amusement, glad to see Serena's stubborn side again.

"Now come on," Serena says, grabbing Ash's hand and leads him out of the living room. "Let's go buy it and then I'll get you some ice cream for your services."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

In Serena's eyes, she has kept her profile of being a proud, stubborn and snarky woman so well that she can barely remember the times where she has ever felt helpless. Ever since the moment in the fitting room where she was stuck taking off her new dress and needed Ash's help, she thought that day is the only thing that will ever come close to feeling truly helpless for the first time in a very long time. However, fate decided not to be as kind as two weeks later, she wakes up and realizes that today is the day that Calem leaves for Kanto. The realization hit her so bad that she hid under the covers of her bed, refusing to face this dreadful day until the alarm on her phone goes off telling her to get out of bed and go to Calem's apartment to say goodbye before one of his co-workers drives him to the airport. Calem offered Serena to go with him to the airport, but Serena insisted on saying goodbye at his home, saying it would be better for her.

Serena fights the urge to cry as she reluctantly gets out of bed, gets dressed as walks over to Calem's apartment. By the time she makes it to the front door, Calem opens it before she knocks and the two of them embrace without saying a word. Calem calmly rubs his girlfriend's back as he feels Serena's tears falling on his suit.

"What time are you leaving?" she whimpers.

"My co-worker, Trevor will be picking me up in about fifteen minutes which should be enough time to make sure I have everything and say our goodbyes," Calem answers sadly.

Serena tightens her hug on her beloved boyfriend as if maybe holding on to him for dear life might prevent him from leaving.

"I don't want you to go," she finally admits. "I really don't want you to go. I want you to stay with me."

"I wish I could, baby," Calem says soothingly before he breaks the hug and gives her a toothy smile. "But hey, think of it this way; I'll come home on October 12th, just a whole week before your birthday. That means we'll have more than a week to get everyone together and throw a big party just to celebrate your birthday and my return...assuming you don't keep me hostage in your apartment and force me to hug and kiss you endlessly the whole time I'm back."

Serena chuckles through her tears and says, "I can't guarantee I won't, going all fugue if pure cuteness."

Calem's grin grows as he wipes the tears from Serena's face.

"That's my girl, never hesitating to speak her mind," he says.

On the inside, Serena's heart is breaking even more as she realizes that she didn't wholeheartedly speak her mind to Calem for the first time when he told her about the position and now she's going to suffer for it. Finally, the two of them break their embrace and go back inside to make sure Calem has everything for the next 12 minutes. Finally, they exit the apartment and Calem looks at his suitcase, satisfied until something enters is mine

"Ah yes, I almost forgot," Calem says as he takes out an envelope from his jacket pocket and hands it over to Serena. "This is an open ticket to Cerulean City. It's a six and a half hours flight. It's already paid for so you can use it whenever you want. Even if it's just for a weekend. Even if it's just for a day. Even if it's just for a kiss."

Serena takes the envelope and stares at. A small smile enters her face knowing that she has a chance to visit Calem and she doesn't hesitate to leap into his arms and kiss him passionately. Calem wraps his arms around her and kisses her back, but stops the moment they hear a car honking.

"Ah, that must me Trevor already," he says. "I gotta go."

"No," Serena begs in mid-kiss, grabbing Calem by his jacket.

"Baby, I'm sorry, I gotta go," Calem says, gently pulling Serena away. "I need to catch my flight."

"Please, don't go," Serena weeps, trying to sound commanding. "You have to stay with me."

"I can't," Calem says sadly as he successfully pulls Serena away from him.

Serena stares at Calem brokenhearted, as he turns around, grabs his suitcase and gives her one last sad look and says, "I love you," before he leaves. She stands by his front door all alone and hears him get in the car and it drives away before she completely breaks into tears, hugging herself.

For the next month, Serena has been struggling to keep her snarky attitude with her beloved boyfriend gone. Ever since then, Serena has the envelope containing the open ticket to Cerulean City and the address to the apartment complex where Calem is staying magnetized to her refrigerator door. When she's not working or hanging out with Ash or her other friends, she stays at home and does almost nothing but stare at the ticket and address untouched.

It also doesn't help that she close to never gets an opportunity to text let alone call Calem. Whenever she tries to find the opportunity to talk to him and ask how he's doing if for no real reason than just to hear his voice, he's always too busy at work or is traveling all over Kanto. Every text reply or voicemail message is nothing but Calem saying "Hey, sorry, I'm at Viridian City/Saffron City/Gardenia Town/Laramie Village/Lavender Town/Saffron City, etc." The only comfort for her are the times when she gets a postcard from wherever Calem has gone and she reads and rereads everything he has to say about the particular place or what friends he made or how he finally got his cast off his arm and how creepy it looks. Every card she gets becomes both a joy and a pain for Serena as it's the only thing that comes close to even having a conversation with her boyfriend anymore.

Meanwhile, Ash has been struggling with his feelings for Serena more than ever. Every moment with her no matter how snarky she is makes him feel happy. It even warms his heart to know that even though they are just friends, Serena has been appreciating her time with him even more as their get-togethers appear to be one of the very few things that are comforting her with Calem gone. But even with that said, it still pains Ash to see through her teasing and remarks that she feels lost with her boyfriend gone. On top of that, he still wishes he didn't have a desire to try to break Serena and Calem up for his own selfish reasons.

Finally, he decides to visit Brock and talk to him about it. The two of them agree to meet up for lunch and Brock and Holly's house which Ash instantly regrets the moment he enters their home and finds Brock sitting down in front of the dining table while Holly sits on his lap and they vigorously make out. Brock gestures him to sit down while a tray of chimichangas are heating in the oven and Ash reluctantly obeys and sits down to uncomfortably hear Brock and Holly moan and breath heavily as they move their lips against each other ferociously as if their faces are at war with each other.

"Oh, I love you so much I want to just rip off your arms and legs and carry you around in my purse all day," Holly groans in pleasure.

"I love you so much I want to grind up your muscles and organs and bones and spread you on toast," Brock manages to say with Holly's lips covering his mouth.

"Oh, I love you so much I wanna just cut you open and scoops all your insides and wear your skin around town like an Allan-suit," Holly moans.

Ash whimpers quietly as the unbearable moment of affection between his best friend and his girlfriend seem to go on for an eternity. He starts to think about leaving without a word until Holly and Brock finally finish their makeout session and look at each other with satisfied looks in their eyes before Holly gets off Brock and takes her purse.

"Right, gotta go to work," she says with a pleased grin. "Bye, Ash."

"Bye, Holly," Ash says, letting a big sigh of relief as Holly leaves. By the time she's out the door, the oven timer rings and Brock takes out the tray piled with chimichangas and brings them over to the dining table with an excited look in his eye. Ash bites his lip as Brock lays the tray at the center of the table.

"Uh...can I talk to you about something, Brock?" he asks.

Brock looks at him for a moment before he sits down, slams the oven mitten he was wearing to the ground and looks at the food feeling pumped.

"Look at this, bro," he says. "I just experienced the most epic makeout session in the history of mankind and I'm about to eat chimichangas. This is going to be the greatest moment of my young life unless you screw it up right now with whatever it is you're about to say."

Ash hesitates before he says, "It's… about Serena."

"Dude," Brock says with a look of disgust. "She's my cousin. That's like incest."

"What? How?" Ash asks confused. "She's not my cousin."

"Yeah, but you're like a brother to me, so it's like my brother asking me on how to incestuously date my cousin," Brock replies.

"What? No, that's not what I meant," Ash protest. "I mean come on, she has a boyfriend."

"Yeah, no duh, Sherlock," Brock rebukes. "He's been coming over for Thanksgiving and Christmas for the past five years."

The two best friend stare at each other before Brock sighs and picks up a chimichanga from the tray and a moldy banana from the fruit basket laying next to it.

"Let me break it down for you, Ash," Brock says. "This perfect chimichanga is Calem. He works at the United Regions as an expert in international copyright law. This moldy banana is you. I have no idea what you do because every time you tell me I fall asleep."

Ash groans in annoyance and says, "You know full well that I write user manuals for dedicated purchasing software -"

Brock interrupts his rebuttal by pretending to be asleep and snores loudly.

"Okay, fine!" Ash says waving his hands in the air. "What does that matter though? Copyright is not that exciting either."

"Yeah, but at least he's an expert on something unlike you," Brock says. "When you're not daydreaming about snuggling with my cousin, you're moping about how there are no people in the world who want your advice or any subject including me. Calem, on the other hand, has been dating Serena for five years. They both have their own apartment. Serena even has a cat. You? You don't even have a poster or a plant in your bedroom up Dawn's attic. You've also been single since that slut-a-tron, Miette broke your fragile little heart."

"Okay, you know what? I was the one who did the dumping there," Ash points out. "She was the one who wanted to stay together and work things out, I said no, so I dumped her."

"Of course you did," Brock rebukes. "You're so afraid of conflict that you'd end a relationship if you and a girl just got into a fight about food or something."

Ash groans childishly and says, "You know what? I get it. It's fine. She's in a relationship, so nothing's going to happen, so don't even make a fuss about it."

Brock frowns and crosses his arms as Ash quietly takes a chimichanga and puts it on his plate.

"You totally killed my make out chimichanga high."

Thus the two of them eat their burritos quietly until there is nothing left. They talk about other things for a while before Ash decides to head home. Ash walks with a frown on his face as Brock was of little help to him over how to handle his feelings in any way. The shy man has a gloomy look on his face as he makes it to Dawn's house and enters before he feels his phone vibrating. He takes it out or his pocket and is surprised to see that Serena is calling him. He silently wonders what is up before he answers it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ash, do you have anything planned tonight?" Serena asks.

"Um...nothing special," Ash admits. "I was just thinking of getting some dinner later and -"

"Not anymore," Serena interrupts.

Ash looks confused until he hears a car honking from the other side of the front door. He opens it to find a yellow cab parked right in front of the house and the back window rolling down to reveal a smirking Serena on her phone.

"Get in, Ketchum, we're going drinking," she calls out.

Ash looks nervous, uncomfortable about the idea of drinking. However, he has never been one to disobey Serena when she bluntly commands something and he's always down for spending time with her, so he reluctantly shrugs, puts away his phone and gets in the cab.

"Alright, driver, off to 39th and Keith," Serena orders.

The driver nods and starts driving away as Ash puts on his seatbelt.

"What's in 39th and Keith?" He asks.

"This cool bar called Seb and Mia's," Serena answers. "Calem and I went there a few times when we started dating. It's pretty fun."

"Uh, okay," Ash says nervously. "Speaking of which, how are you holding up?"

Serena winces, making Ash regret asking until she shakes her head and answers.

"That's why we're drinking tonight," she says. "Our hangouts are basically the highlights of my social life with my Calem gone, so I felt like drinking and decided you're coming with me.

"Oh, okay," Ash says. "I should warn you I rarely go out to drink, though."

"Seriously?" Serena ridicules. "Do you even have a preference?"

"Uh...hard lemonade and Apple cider?" Ash says with a sheepish grin.

Serena shakes her head in disappointment.

"Well, that's just something we'll have to remedy tonight, isn't it?" She says before giving Ash a playful smirk. "Maybe help you find true love while at it."

Ash blushes at the idea.

"I don't think that's such a -" he begins.

"Nope, my mind is made up," Serena interrupts. "Before the night is done, I'm gonna find your one true love and we'll be heading home with the two of you making out like Brock and Holly."

Ash's blush grows at the idea, but he keeps his uncomfortable smile as he knows better than to try to change the stubborn honey blonde woman's mind.

By the time the cab makes it to Lumiose City, it is already night time. Serena pays the driver before she and Ash enter the club. Ash covers his ears for a few minutes to get used to the loud music, making Serena roll her eyes. The two of them squeeze their way to the counter where Serena orders two shots from the bartender. The bartender hands then their shots and Serena hands Ash his with a determined look.

"Alright, no pauses and no hesitation, Mr. Ketchum," she says. "Bottoms up on the count of three. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it," Ash answers nervously.

"Alright, get ready," Serena commands. "One, two, three, go!"

Ash shuts his eyes as he and Serena drink their shots. It isn't long before Ash coughs violently and Serena makes disgusted faces.

"Oh my gosh, that was the most horrible thing I ever had in my mouth," Ash whines.

"Blegh, horrible and cheap," Serena agrees, sticking out her tongue.

She pats Ash's pack until he manages to stop coughing.

"Alright, now that we have your first shot out of the way, it's time to go lady hunting," Serena says. "Do you see anyone you like in this club?"

Ash stutters uncomfortably, wishing it wasn't Serena of all people asking him about other women. He pretends to look around before he answers.

"Not really. I don't think anyone I like would come here,". He says.

"You are here, Ash," Serena states.

"Because you made me," Ash protests.

"Doesn't matter, there has to be someone in here for you," Serena says determinedly as she looks around the bar. "Hey, what about her? She's pretty."

Ash turns around to see a beautiful tall woman with long red hair and wearing a plain black dress talking to one of the bartenders. Ash mentally admits her affection but decides to hide it for the sake of any chance he has with the woman he likes.

"Yeah, I guess she's good-looking," he says scratching the back of his head.

"Oh don't sugarcoat it you little goof, she's super pretty," Serena rebukes. "Why don't I go over there and tell her all about your little shy guy personality."

"N-no, please don't," Ash says in a panicking voice. "I think it's better if she hears that from me."

"Well, if you really think that way, then get a move on," Serena says pushing him toward the red-haired woman.

Ash grows uneasy as he reluctantly walks toward the tall woman in order to avoid getting ridiculed by Serena again. He takes a deep breath before he walks over to the woman and taps her on the shoulder, making her turn her head to face him.

"H-h-hi," Ash says bashfully. "Um...may I say you have amazing teeth."

In his head, the raven-haired man is horrified he suddenly said something like that. But the woman just stares at him for a moment before giving him a big smile.

"Thank you," she coos.

"Uh, you're welcome," Ash says with a goofy grin. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Aw, that's very sweet. Thank you," the woman says sweetly.

Ash neediness more confident and gestures the bartender to give the woman a drink. As the bartender gives her the drink, however, Ash looks down to take a twenty dollar bill and by the time he looks up, the woman has already walked away with her drink. The bartender laughs out loud as he snatches the money from Ash's hand.

"You're gonna need some water for that burn, little guy," the bartender teases. "That's the saddest thing I've seen in this bar in ages."

Ash frowns sadly until he feels Serena's arm around him and finds her giving the bartender a hard glare.

"Hey, you leave my buddy alone," she rebukes. "It's not his fault she turned out to be a humongous cow."

Ash blushes lightly and looks at Serena feeling touched by her coming to his defense. The bartender, however merely smirks at the two of them.

"You can defend him all you like, lady, but I don't see him getting anyone's number any time soon," he mocks.

"Oh I don't know," Serena says smirking. "With such an adorable face like his, I'm sure he'll get more numbers than you ever will."

Ash looks away from the bartender and Serena to hide his blush growing more while the bartender frowns.

"That because I can't take anyone number because it's club policy," he counters.

Serena's smirk grows and mockingly says, "Not our problem," before she bites her thumb at the bartender, takes Ash's hand and leads him back to their side of the counter.

"Y-you didn't have to do that, Serena," Ash says bashfully.

"Says who?" Serena rebukes. "That guy was a jackass through and through. He probably never had a serious relationship a day in his life."

Ash smiles appreciatively at the honey blonde woman until a thought enters his mind.

"You know, speaking of which, how many serious relationships have you had?" He asks.

Serena looks at Ash taken aback before she scratches her chin and then answers, "I'd say about four. Let's see there was Drew from high school, and then there was Ryan and Trenton before Calem and then Calem. How about you?"

"Uh...six?" Ash answers with a sheepish grin.

"Six?" Serena shouts surprised. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, let me think," Ash answers. "My first love was this orange-haired girl named Misty from high school back in Kanto, then Melody the summer after high school, then May, Salvia and somehow Iris during college and since then there was Courtney since. Wait, that's not true. Courtney then Miette, so that actually makes seven."

"Seven serious relationships," Serena says with a smug grin. "My, my, my, Mr. Ketchum. You are a hit with the ladies. That cow doesn't know what she lost."

Ash sheepish grin grows before Serena speaks again.

"So are you usually a dumped or dumpee?" She asks.

"Um...statistically speaking, I'm a dumper," Ash answers. "It's not that I've never been dumped, it's just that I'm very good at knowing when to get out. I think I can say that anyway. You?"

"Nope," Serena says proudly. "I always try to make it work."

Ash smiles at her determination when Serena takes his hand again.

"Alright, enough about our love lives. Let's dance," she announces.

Ash's eyes widen and he tries to say something against her plan before Serena pulls him away from the counter and leads him to the dance floor. Serena finds an empty spot in the sea of people dancing and drags Ash there before she joins in. Ash shyly begins moving his feet back and forth awkwardly while the woman he crushes on begins jumping up and down and shaking her body to the beat. Ash finds himself staring at Serena as she dances energetically. He smiles as he admires her enthusiasm before Serena suddenly takes both of his hands.

"Dance with me, Ketchum!" she commands with a smile.

Ash tries to say something again before Serena pulls his arms and leads him to a dance. Ash struggles to keep up with Serena before he begins to smile and happily dance along.

After a couple of hours of dancing and taking a couple more shots, the two of them decide to head home.

"So, did you have fun, Ash?" Serena asks.

"Actually yes," Ash says smiling. "I haven't gone to a bar in a long time and I thought I was going to hate that, but that was surprisingly painless."

"Good," Serena says pleased before she pouts. "I hate that you didn't get to find true love though."

Ash chuckles sheepishly before he says, "Yeah, well you can't have it all."

The two of them walk down the street until they find a cab to take them back to Vanille town. The two of them sit in the back in silence until Serena speaks again.

"So..." She begins. "What's the worse thing that's ever happened to you, Ash?"

Ash frowns sadly.

"Well...the worst thing that's ever happened to me is also the best things that's ever happened to me," he answers reluctantly. "It's basically what happened between me and Miette."

Serena frowns and quickly says, "We don't have to go into -"

"No, it's okay," Ash interrupts. "I wanted to tell you sooner than later."

Serena looks at her friend sadly as Ash takes a deep breath and tells his story.

"It was about four years ago when we met," he begins. "I recently broke up with Courtney as she was moving to Johto while I stayed here to go to medical school. I didn't make friends with my peers and no one really paid any mind to me as we kind of only needed each other as a means to pass our classes. But then there's this blue-haired woman who is in all of my classes that I notice staring at me at a distance with her incredible orange eyes. I wasn't sure what to think except for how whenever we would look at each other, she would give me the sweetest smile I have ever seen. We never said a word to each other or had any group projects together at this point, and yet she loved to give me this heartfelt look as if she's looking at the most wonderful thing in the world and it just happens to be me."

Serena can't help but smile a little as Ash continues.

"It wasn't until during the second semester of our first year in school that I finally gained the courage talk to her and find out that her name is Miette. Slowly yet surely, we began to talk more until she made the move to ask me out. Within the week, I enjoyed her sweet company so much that I made the move to kiss her and she was quick to passionately kiss me back as if my lips made her heart leap for joy. For the next two years, everything felt like nothing but pure bliss. When we weren't in class keeping things professional, we were in each other's arms to no end. I can't think of a day around that time where I didn't wake up excited to see her and tell her that I love her and to hear her tell me that she loves me more. She knew everything about me and I knew everything about her. I think even though had gotten serious before with six other girls, Miette was the first girlfriend where I would say to myself that I was truly happy with her."

Ash sighs heavily as his mind drifts to the memories he made with his ex-girlfriend. Serena looks at her friend sadly as she wonders what could have happened to end what sounds like a wonderful relationship. Finally, Ash snaps out of his thoughts and continues with a solemn look on his face.

"But then, of course, it ended," he says. "It was during the second semester on our third year of medical school. Miette and I were taking this anatomy class at the same time but at separate rooms. Then one day, I was asked to go to the Medicine Room to grab a certain serum by my professor but when I came in, I found Miette making out with another one of our other professors."

Serena gasps softly in shock.

"Really?" She asks.

"Really," Ash answers. answers. "He had both of his hands on her cheeks and her arms were wrapped around him and they were both quietly moaning in pleasure. I didn't cry or scream or anything. I just stood there brokenhearted. They didn't even notice I was there until I dropped my binder. When they turned to face me, Miette looked horrified to see me, but before she could say a word, I ran away. I hear her screaming out her pleas to me, but it was no use. I just ran out of the building and kept going until I found an alleyway where I knew Miette couldn't find me and just bawled my eyes out."

Serena looks at Ash sadly, pity filling her heart for what happened to him over a year ago.

"But how was it also the best thing?" she asks.

"Because as much as her betrayal tore me apart, it made me realize how much we were like my parents," Ash says. "We were almost doctors and already we started cheating on each other. I mean she knew who I felt about the matter with my parents and how much I am disgusted with both of them for being unfaithful to each other and yet the one person I thought I could trust became as unfaithful as they were. So that's when I decided I don't want to be a doctor anymore and so got out of there. Miette did everything she could to talk to me, but she basically never got a word from me ever again until we bumped into her after Calem fell out of the window. So through that realization, the worst thing that has ever happened to me is also the best thing."

Serena frowns at Ash's explanation and asks, "Did you ever wish you tried to work things out?"

Ash doesn't say a word to the honey blonde woman for a minute before he answers.

"Sometimes," he admits. "She left a voicemail on my phone claiming that there's an explanation and she still loves me and every now and then I would reply it and either be angry with her or feel tempted to call and hear her out, but in the end all I would feel is pain and bitterness for her destroying everything we had and over time I started to love her less and less. And yet I never truly let her go until I finally deleted her message the night I met you and I feel so much better since then because of it."

Serena gives him a sad smile. She takes his hand and squeezes it to comfort her friend.

"Well, I'm glad you were able to let go of her eventually, Ash," she says. "Letting go of an ex like that is hard to do on your own. Plus, technically by helping you move on, I get to be a part of the best thing that's ever happened to you, right?"

"Uh...yeah, I guess you do," Ash says.

Serena smiles brightly before they look away from each other to watch the cab enter Vanille Town. As Ash looks through the window, however, he frowns sadly as he begins to think about what Serena said and his heart begins to realize that he was wrong. The best thing that ever happened to him wasn't realizing what happened between him and Miette and moving on, the best thing was having Serena and to his life.

After a few minutes, the cab makes it to Serena's apartment building and Serena pays the cab driver as she and Ash exit the car. As the cab driver drives away, Ash decides to ask Serena one more question.

"So, what is the worst thing that's ever happened to you?" he asks.

Serena frowns sadly and hesitates to answer for a moment.

"My dad died when I was little," she says, making Ash's heart sink. "He had colon cancer. There's nothing worse than a feeling of everything you love may be taken away from you just like that. Makes you don't want to forget anything good in your life, you know?"

Ash makes a guilty frown and asks, "Can I change my answer? Because now I feel like the worst thing that's ever happened to me is you talking about someone you love dying of cancer while I went on about my pathetic relationship drama."

Serena giggles silently and pats Ash on his shoulder.

"It's all good, Ash. I like your answer," she says. "Plus, I get to be a part of both the best thing and the worst thing that's ever happened to you, so that's cool."

Ash chuckles lightly and says, "Also for future reference, when the worst thing that's ever happened to you is your dad dying of cancer, you should definitely go first."

Serena chuckles again and says, "Thanks for the advice."

"No, worries," Ash says with a small smile.

The two of them stare at each other for a moment before Serena sighs and pulls Ash into a hug.

"Thanks for going drinking and dancing with me," she says softly.

"Thank you for making me," Ash replies as he hugs her back.

Serena snickers at his reply as she breaks the hug and gives Ash a grateful smile before she enters her apartment building. Ash sighs before he begins the walk back to Dawn's house with a small smile on his face. He walks her only a few minutes, however, what he feels his phone vibrating and it takes it out to see that Brock is calling him. He stares at his phone curiously before he answers it.

"Hello?"

"Ash. What's up, my brother?!" Brock shouts, making Ash move his phone away from his ear. "I got you on speaker, little buddy cause Holly's here too."

"Hey, Ash!" Holly's voice calls out.

"Uh, hey, Holly," Ash says as he rubs his ear. "What's up?"

"We got big news for you, buddy," Brock says enthusiastically. "The greatest news you will ever hear in your life."

"And that you be?" Ash asks.

Ash hears the two of them giggle in excitement before they simultaneously shout, "WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It has been two weeks since Brock and Holly announced their engagement. By now, every friend and relative of theirs has heard the news and is ecstatic for their engagement party. Even Ash, while he still dislikes the fact that they got together via cheating on Holly's ex-boyfriend, can't help but admits how strange yet exciting it feels to see Brock actually go so far in a relationship as want to settle down with a woman. In the years that they've known each other, Brock has had better luck with just making out with a woman for hours on end then going so far in a relationship as to want to get married and stay loyal to that said woman for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, Brock's enthusiasm to marry Holly is unmistakable.

It is the afternoon before Brock and Holly's engagement party later tonight and Serena, Lily, Shauna, and Nina are at a dress store. While Serena already has her dress after buying the red dress with Ash, she is here to help Lilly, find the perfect dress for her to wear for her cousin's special occasion while their friends just want to support her and buy their own.

"How about this cute peach one?" Nina asks Serena as they look through the racks of dresses.

"With that lilac ribbon wrapped around the waist?" Serena criticizes. "Come on, girl, you deserve better than that."

Nina frowns and looks at the dress again before she silently agrees and continues browsing.

"What would we do without a harsh judge of fashion like you, Serena?" Shauna says as she and Lillie look through a rack next to Serena and Nina.

"Oh good golly, I pray I never find out," Serena says firmly with a prideful smirk. "You ladies would be lost without me, then and there."

"Amen," Lillie says in agreement.

The four women continue to look through the dresses for a couple of minutes before Shaunna decides to strike a conversation.

"So, Serena, how are things going with Calem gone?" She asks.

Serena frowns sadly and says, "It's...okay. I guess it's really frustrating how he is going to all these different places and meeting all these people, and then when he asks me how things are going over here, I'm like, 'Oh, it's about the same, except my boyfriend is gone because he took this position without even consulting me."

Lillie, Shauna and Nina look at Serena sadly.

"You're still bitter about that, huh?" Nina asks.

"How could I not?" Serena asks bitterly. "I want to be supportive for him because it's his dream and all, but it still hurts that as far as I know, he didn't even try to consider that he should talk to me first or how this could be hard for me. He just assumed our relationship is gonna be fine and leaves."

Serena huffs in frustration and Nina is quick to take her hand for comfort.

"Maybe that's something you two should talk about when he gets back," Lillie suggests.

"At this point, that's not up for debate," Serena says. "It's been six weeks now and I can't stand having Calem around. The only thing that's keeping my head intact is you guys and my friend, Ash."

"You know, speaking of Ash, Lillie's been telling us about how you hang out with him a lot," Shauna says.

"Yeah, so?" Serena asks.

"We'll, I mean is he cute?" Shauna asks in anticipation. "More importantly, is he single? Is he someone you might want to introduce to one of your slightly desperate friends, hint, hint?"

Serena winces at Shauna's question. She gets an uncomfortable feeling inside her that she can't explain why it's there. Before she can say anything, however, Lillie steps in.

"Don't even think about it, Shaunna, I got dibs on him," Lillie says proudly.

"What? Why?" Shauna whines.

"Because he's supposed to be my rebound after Kiawe," Lillie says.

Serena's frown deepens and she says, "Lillie, you don't even know him."

"So?" Lillie questions. "He seems fine with what I already know about him. I mean he hangs out with you so he's not a total loser, he was super apologetic about knocking Calem out the window so he has a good heart, and he hasn't tried anything with you so he's not a creep."

Serena tries to think of something to counter Lillie's point but sighs defeated when she accepts that she can't think of anything.

"So? Tell us more already," Nina pleads. "Is he smart? Is he funny?"

Lillie scratches her chin in thought before she answers.

"He's definitely smart but not really funny," she says. "He's more of a sensitive shy guy who would let you hug him from behind like a human sized teddy bear while you two are watching TV on the couch. Think Shauna's ex-boyfriend, Trevor, but way cuter."

"Hey, don't hate on Trevor! He was adorable!" Shauna rebukes angrily.

As Shauna and Lily begin to bicker about who is cuter between Ash and Trevor, Serena ignores them and continues to look through the dresses. Then suddenly, she stops looking through the clothes and thinks about the idea of cuddling with Ash the way Lily describe it and giggles quietly. Then her eyes widen and she shakes her head from that thought and goes back to searching through the gowns.

After a few minutes, the girls find some dresses for Lily, Shawna and Nina to try on and so they go to the fitting rooms to start trying them on. Lily decides to buy the blue dress that she tries on first right on the spot while Shaunna and Nina continue to try on more dresses and show them off to the Yvonne sisters. As Lily and Serena wait for their friends to show off the dresses they are trying next, Serena frowns and decides to confront Lily.

"You know, you didn't have to go on and say all that stuff about Ash," she says.

Lillie turns to her sister and defensively asks, "What? What's wrong with what I said?"

Serena bites her lip and says, "I'm just saying you don't have the greatest track record when it comes to dating guys."

"What? You think I'm not good enough for him?" Lily asks with her hands on her hips. "You think I'm going to break his heart and ruin your friendship forever?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant," Serena says defensively.

"Okay. What's the big deal?" Lillie challenges. "Some of us aren't as lucky as you and Calem. Some if us just want a guy that doesn't make us feel like crap all the time. I mean you don't think Ash is the kind of guy that would do that, right?"

"No, never," Serena answers almost immediately.

"Well, then what's the problem with me going out with him?" Lillie asks.

"Nothing," Serena claims.

"Well, then there's no problem, is there?" Lillie says.

Serena opens her mouth to protest again before she sighs.

"No," she says defeated. "No problem at all."

Meanwhile, over in Lumiose City, Brock and Ash are at a diamond store to pick up Brock's engagement ring. Brock and Holly both ordered engagement rings for each other for them to give at their engagement party and Brock's ring for Holly just arrived last night. Brock acts giddy during the walk to the store as if he's getting ready to buy a new video game making Ash feel uneasy about his best friend's demeanor while still feeling happy for him. When they make it to the diamond store, Ash decides to talk about his feelings for Serena again while they wait for the diamond clerk to bring out the ring. This time, however, Brock takes pity on his little buddy and decides to give him some options.

"Option 1: you make a move on her," he says. "This is something bold and direct. If you're lucky, she'll go out with you and then feel guilty and break up with Calem, but if you're unlucky she will realize what you're doing and end the friendship."

"So basically be sleazy?" Ash asks.

"Yeah," Brock answers plainly.

Ash thinks for a moment and says, "I don't think that would work for someone like Serena."

Brock thinks about and admits, "Yeah, more than likely she will catch wise and realize that you are…"

"Sleazy," Ash says finishing the sentence.

"Well… yeah," Brock admits. "So there's option 2: be the guy she goes to for advice. The downside is you would have to listen to her talk about Calem all day, but the upside is you could use that to your advantage to manipulate her to eventually break up with him."

"So be conniving?" Ash asks.

"Yeah," Brock answers.

Ash thinks hard about this it considers that it is possible. After all, Serena has looked to him to be someone to talk to you about her issue with Calem taking the job without consulting her, so maybe he can use that to cause Serena and Calem to ultimately break up.

"That could work," he says.

"Maybe, but she could also realize what you are doing and then break up the friendship anyway," Brock says.

Ash frowns, admitting Brock is right before his friend continues.

"So that leaves us with option 3: you wait it out," Brock says. "Either they eventually break up and then you make your move, or they get married and you're always standing there wondering what might have been pining indefinitely."

"So be pathetic?"

"Yup."

"That sounds right up my alley," Ash says with a sad smirk.

"Well, it does have the advantage of you being perfectly ethical," Brock says. " but it also has the major disadvantage of you being…"

"Pathetic," Ash says finishing Brock's sentence. "So your advice is to be either sleazy, conniving, or pathetic?"

Brock frowns and scratches the back of his head.

"Well, when you put it that way it doesn't sound like very good advice," he says.

The two friends look at each other and sighing to feet. Just then, the diamond clerk walks in with a small black box and walk over to Brock with a smile on her face. Brought squeals excitedly as she opens the box to reveal a big diamond necklace with a big "H" on top of it covered with little diamonds. Brock claps his hands excitedly while Ash stares at it in confounded amazement.

"Do you think she'll like it?" Brock asks turning to Ash.

"Um… it's not for me to say since it's not my engagement ring," Ash answers scratching the back of his head.

"I think she's going to love it," Brock declares.

"Well… Then you two are made for each other," Ash says with a nervous grin.

Brock pays for the ring and puts the small black box containing it, puts it in his pocket. After that, the two men decide to go down the street to look for something to get lunch before they take a cab back to Vaniville town. Ash has to stop Brock from jumping up and down like a little boy every few minutes as excitement is growing inside the taller man by the minute. Eventually, Brock quiets down and so there is silence between the two of them as they walk down the street until Brock suddenly speaks again.

"You know, there's actually a fourth option for handling your feelings for Serena," he says grabbing Ash's attention. "Be honest with her about your feelings. She might end your friendship with her anyway, but at least you went out there and expressed your feelings like a man."

Ash looks at Brock with a dumbfounded frown and says, "Since when does being a man mean expressing your feelings? Because last time I checked being a man means hiding your feelings forever. Like Lieutenant Surge for example. You never see Lieutenant Surge express his feelings. At best you will see him give out a hint of melancholy and the edge of a smirk."

"Dude, do you really think Lieutenant Surge would stand there and be okay with being just friends? " Brock challenges. "100% honesty is the foundation of any relationship."

"What? So you are 100% honest with Holly about everything?" Ash challenges back.

"Of course, little buddy, what do I have to hide from my fiance?" Brock questions.

"Well, how about that little incident at Porta Vista back in 2017?" Ask remarks making Brock's face fall. "Yeah, that guy, James did kind of look like a woman to be fair."

Brock blushes uncomfortably and clears his throat.

"Like I said, 99% honesty is the foundation of any relationship," he says.

Ash shakes his head and sadly says, "No, it's not, Brock. Is not worth the risk if I lose her as a friend."

Brock looks at his shorter friend and sighs in defeat.

"So that just leaves you with option 5, little buddy."

"And that is?"

"You move on."

Ash frowns sadly as he sits bit the bar counter in the center where Brock and Holly are having their engagement party. Already people are crowding the large room dressed in nice suits and dresses while Ash quietly sips a small glass of hard cider. He thinks hard about Brock suggestion to move on from his feelings for Serena. On the one hand, it does seem like that's the only choice he has left, but in reality, it's something he knows he cannot do no matter how hard he would try. In his heart, he knows every time he has spent with Serena whether they are together or not has proved to be far too precious to let go just because he can't handle the way he feels about her despite the fact that she is still dating Calem.

Suddenly, he feels a tap on his shoulder and he turns around to see Serena smirking at him while wearing the red dress with Lillie standing next to her wearing a blue dress.

"I should have figured you'd be here drinking you girly beer instead of mingling," Serena says teasingly.

"Uh...yeah, what can I say? You two are the only people I recognize apart from the betrothed couple," Ash says.

"Oh? Is there no one here with you?" Lillie asks curiously.

"No, Dawn couldn't come because she couldn't find a babysitter for Jeremy," Ash says.

Lillie smirks in anticipation. Serena noticing what is on her sister's mind finds herself saying something without thinking about it.

"Well, then why don't the two us be your dates?" She suggests.

Ash and Lillie's eyes widen as they turn to the honey blonde woman in surprise.

"W-what?" Ash stutters.

"Say that again, sis?" Lillie asks suspiciously with her hands on her hips.

Serena freezes, shocked with the words that just came out of her mouth. She bites her lip as she quickly thinks of something explain herself.

"I-I mean Calem isn't here, so that leaves two hotties with no man to have as a date, so I see no problem with us sharing one," she says with her smug grin returning as she takes Ash's arm and hugs it, making him whimper quietly. "Besides, nothing says quite a catch like a cute guy like Ash having two dates. Am I right, Lillie?"

Lillie keeps her suspicious frown as she glares at her sister before she turns to Ash. Ash looks at his crush's sister with his face red all over as he struggles to say a word of protest to either woman. Lillie raises her eyebrow and smirks and amusement as she interprets this has him feeling bashful around her alone.

"You know what, Serena? You are right as rain," she says as she takes Ash's other hand, makes him blush even more. "How about it, Mr. Ketchum? It would mean soooooo much to us if you would be a gentleman and keep us company."

Ash whimpers hysterically and tries to think of a good reason to deny their request. But then his mind drifts to the thought of having Serena as his date. The more he thought about it, the more it tempted him to say yes even if they would be a date as friends and she would be sharing Ash as her date with Lillie. After thinking about it a little more, Ash size and gives the two ladies a bashful smile.

"H-how could I say no?" He stutters.

"Aw, thanks, Ashy. You're the best," Lillie coos, making Ash blush harder.

Just then, they hear someone tapping on a mic and they turn to see Brock and Holly on the stage.

"Hello, everyone, thank you so much for coming to our engagement party. We are so happy to have everyone we care about together in one space," Brock greets. "With that said, we have an announcement: both of us truly want to get married, but we actually hate weddings."

"Yeah, every wedding I have ever been to has completely sucked," Holly says. "Sorry, Aunt Asuma and Uncle Kiroto."

"Yeah, and we hate long engagements too," Brock says before he and Holly look at each other excitedly and he says, "So we decided we're actually going to get married right here tonight!"

Everyone in the crowd including Ash, Serena, and Lillie stares at the couple in shock. It takes a moment or two before they all smile and applaud in excitement.

"We have Amanda here, who is our registered civil officiant," Holly says pointing to an old woman standing close to the stage. "And I already picked out my dress."

"Autumn is going to be Holly's maid of honor while Ash will be my best man," Brock announces. "So thank you very much, and everyone please stay away from my Uncle Maynor."

Ash's jaw drops in surprise while Serena and Lillie smirk at their date again.

"My, my, my. Not only is our date a cutie and a gentleman, but the best man. What a catch," Lillie says giving Ash a flirtatious grin. "You come up with the best ideas, Serena."

"Of course, I do. I'm your big sister," Serena says proudly.

Ash gulps and chuckles nervously as his two dates smirk flirtatiously at him before Brock comes over to retrieve him for his sudden role as the best man.

For the next half hour, Ash helps Brock get ready as they put on their tuxes for the ceremony. Brock's excitement made it difficult for Ash as he tried to explain to his best friend how nervous he is to be the best man.

"Brock, I really wish you talked to me about this before putting me there on the spot," he whines.

"Aw, don't be so overdramatic, Ash," Brock says with a wave of his hand. "After all, all you have to do is stand there and have my back while I marry the most beautiful and amazing woman in the history of existence."

Brock giggles in excitement like a schoolgirl making Ash groan in annoyance.

"But don't I also need to have a speech or something prepare for after the ceremony or something?" he protests.

"Ah, you'll figure something out, little buddy," Brock says. "I mean come on, you've seen me and Holly together plenty of times. You'll have plenty of material to say how crazy we are about each other."

Ash makes a nervous grim as the only things he can think of our times when he sadly watches the two of them ferociously make out. Just then, the door opens to reveal Amanda.

"It's showtime in ten minutes," she announces. "Also, best man, you are summoned to the bride's room."

"What? What for?" Ash asks.

"You're just gonna have to come over there and find out, son," Amanda answers with a shrug.

"Go on, Ash, better go see what my future missus wants," Brick says with a grin.

Ash sighs and reluctantly leaves the room and follows Amanda mentally wondering how he got into this mess. By the time he makes it to Holly's room, he can already hear her rebuking Autumn over her makeup making him uneasy as he opens the door.

"I've been summoned?" He says as he opens the door.

"Ash! Great timing!" Holly says enthusiastically while wearing her wedding dress before she turns to Autumn. "Go get me some vodka or something, I'm seriously going to freak out if I don't have any booze."

Autumn flinches nervously at Holly's order before she leaves the room. Ash gets uncomfortable and asks, "Is this a bad time?"

"No, no, no, no, no! You stay," Holly commands. "Autumn is more nervous than I am and frankly it's wiggling me out. You stay and talk to me."

Ash hesitates before he fully enters the room and stands in front of Holly. For a moment neither of them say anything.

"So…?" Holly finally says in an eager tone.

"Uh...so?" Ash asks confused.

Holly rolls her eyes and decides to get to the point.

"Why are you torturing yourself over your feelings for Serena?" She asks. "I saw you over there with her and Lillie before we made the announcement. It's clear that you're holding back from having a 10-second conversation with Serena that would answer everything."

Ash frowns and says, "I really don't want to talk about that. Besides, it's your wedding day."

"Exactly!" Holly says. "It's my wedding day, and as best man, it's your job to keep me calm before I run away and go make out with the first guy I see walking down the street."

Ash's frown deepens at that description before Holly speaks again.

"Look, what is the best case scenario if you finally admit to Serena how you feel about her?" She asks. "Do you think it's her saying, 'Ash, I love you too. Let's get married, never talk about Calem again and kiss until we die in each other's arms like in The Notebook.'"

"That actually is the best case scenario," Ash says with a small smile, imagining him and Serena doing everything Holly described.

"Okay, so what's the worst case scenario?" Holly asks. "Is it her saying 'Ash, you lying jackass, I thought we were friends but all this time you've just been wanting to shove your tongue down my throat?'"

Ash winces in disgust and says, "I think any scenario with the phrase 'shove your tongue down my throat' is the worst case scenario, Holly."

Holly sighs, irritated with the shy raven-haired man's persistence to keep his feelings for Serena a secret.

"Look, Ash," she says. "The one thing I like about getting married is that you get to go stand up in front of everyone you care about and state for the record that you believe in the best case scenario with the one you want to stay together forever with. It terrifies me to no end, but that's why the outfits are so nice and that's why it's great that Brock will be right there by my side saying the same thing. We both are crazy for each other, we want to live the rest of our lives together for better or worse and we want the whole world to know it."

Ash stares at her, taken aback at her statement.

"You care about him that much?" He asks.

"More than anything," Holly says sincerely.

Ash can't help but smile at her heartfelt confession.

"Then you really are made for each other," he says.

Holly smiles as Autumn enters the room holding a plastic cup of vodka. Holly snatches the cup and turns to Ash saying, "Cheers," before drinking the whole drink down.

15 minutes later, Brock and Ash are back in the main hall standing on the stage with Autumn and Amanda. Ash blushes lightly both in embarrassment and in bashfulness as Serena and Lily teasingly cheer for him and shout to the rest of the audience, "That's our date! We got the best man," much to Brock's amusement. Finally, wedding music plays over the speakers and Holly happily walks down the aisle with her father until she makes it to the front stage. Both Brock and Holly giggle in anticipation as Amanda clears her throat.

"Welcome, family, friends and loved ones," she says. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the wedding of Holly and Brock. You have come here to share in this formal commitment they make to one another, to offer your love and support to this union, and to allow Holly and Brock to start their married life together surrounded by the people dearest and most important to them."

Some members of the audience "Aw!" loudly before Amanda continues.

"So without further ado, may we have the rings please?"

Brock and Holly squeal with excitement as Brock takes out the small black box out of pocket. Ash's eyes widen as he realizes that the diamond ring is actually meant to be Holly's wedding ring as Brock puts it on her finger. Then Holly turns to Autumn who reaches from inside her purse and takes out a small black box and Holly opposite to reveal another diamond ring with a "B" covered in small diamonds. Ash stares at it in disbelief as Holly puts it on Brock's finger.

"Our dearly committed have also written their own vows," Amanda announces.

Brock and Holly grin with their eyes glued to each other.

"I want you to be mine forever," Brock says eagerly.

"I want you to be mine forever," Holly says enthusiastically.

Amanda frowns and looks at a two of them in confusion as she realizes that's apparently all they have to say. Finally, she shrugs and says, " then by the power invested in me by the rejoin of Kalos, it is my privilege to pronounce you as husband and wife. You may ki -"

But before Amanda can finish the last sentence, Brock and Holly are already smashing their lips together. Amanda rolls her eyes and shrugs while everyone else claps and cheers. Even Ash finds himself smiling at this moment as his best friend picks up his new wife bridal style and proudly shouts, "I got her! She's Mine! She's my wife! All mine!"

After everyone quiets down, Amanda calls Autumn over to begin speeches. Everyone gathers together to watch Autumn talk about Holly and Brock only for her to begin crying hysterically and talk about moments between her and Holly.

"A-a-and so I learned a lot of things that night about gambling addictions and identity theft and the Unovan legal system," she weeps comically making everyone uneasy. "But the most important lesson I learned from Holly and it was a friendship."

Autumn drops her mic and walks over to hug Holly who juggles nurse that she hugs her back politely saying she did a good job. Brock turns to Ash who is standing next to him with Serena and Lily and says, "You're up." Ash gulps nervously until he feels Serena nudge him on the shoulders.

"Go get 'em, tiger," she says encouragingly. "Remember, anything you say has to easily be better than that."

"Yeah, come on, you can do it," Lillie says in agreement.

Ash smiles kindly at his two dates before he reluctantly walks over to the stage and takes the mic. He stands there nervously has all eyes on him until he thinks about what Holly says and figures out what to say.

"S-so to those of us who begrudgingly call Brock a friend, It seems impossible that any woman who could handle him for a month at best, much less want to handle him an entire lifetime," he begins. "But then you meet Holly who wants to be with him for the rest of her life without question. And in the end, that's the good news here. If these two can find each other than maybe there truly is someone out there for everyone."

At this moment, Serena's smug look fades to one of surprise. A small yet sincere smile appears on her face as she feels touched and hopeful at the idea that maybe he really means it.

"The the bad news is that given that they can't keep their hands off each other, they will procreate and their army of children will cause the Apocalypse," Ash says making everyone chuckle as he continues with his gaze focused on Serena. "But tonight we will celebrate the good news. I remember the night Brock and Holly met and that instant connection. If you're lucky, it happens once in a lifetime. And if you're unlucky, then you have to come to weddings and great people like me talk about it and assume we're all hopeless romantics."

Serena's smile fades as she watches her friend speak from the heart.

"It's very easy to be cynical about love in my eye. Just ask Brock or Serena. They'll know what I mean," Ash says making Brock and Serena chuckle a little. "But tonight it's actually hard to do. So to Brock and Holly for making the hard way look easy."

Everyone smiles and raises their glasses saying cheers and to Brock and Holly before they all take a sip of their drinks. Serena smiles, satisfied with the way Ash handled himself there and in her mind she begins to wonder if it's possible for ash to truly change his feelings about love in general. Lillie, on the other hand, looks at Ash with a coquettish grin, proud to have Ash as her date as the wheels in her mind turn for a plan to make her move on the shy, raven-haired man.

After a couple of hours of drinking and dancing to celebrate Brock and Holly's marriage. Lillie drives Ash and Serena back to Vaniville town. She parks at the front of Serena's apartment building first before driving to Dawn's house.

"Are you sure you want to drive me other there?" Ash asks from the back seat. "I mean it's so close that it's barely worth the gas."

"Nonsense, I'm all about the door-to-door service," Lillie says with a wave of her hand. "Besides you agreed to be our date tonight so it's only fair. Now go say goodnight to Serena."

Serena rolls her eyes over Lillie's response before she and Ash get out of the car. The two of them smile at each other before Serena places her hand on Ash's chest.

"You clean up really nice, Ash," she says softly.

"T- thanks," Ash says trying to keep his cool.

Serena smirks at her nervous friend before pulling him into a hug.

"Thanks for being my date," she says.

Ash blushes before he hugs her back and smiles saying, "Anytime."

They keep hugging for a few seconds before Serena breaks the hug.

"Good night, Ash," she says as she enters her apartment building

"Good night, Serena," Ash says as he gets back in Lillie's car.

The ride to Dawn's house is shorts and quiet. It only takes a couple minutes before Lillie parks in the sidewalk.

"Thank you, Lillie," Ash says politely before Lillie suddenly takes his hand and gives him a kittenish look.

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to come inside," she says.

"What?" Ash asks in confusion.

Lillie giggles and says, "Okay, I'll come and make out with you, but we are not doing anything else."

"Uh… I'm very confused," Ash admits.

"Aw, relax, Ash, I'm only kidding," Lillie giggles.

"About what?" Ash asks.

"Everything," Lillie suddenly says with a flirtatious look.

Ash looks at her even more confused than before. Before he can ask any more, however, Lily suddenly unbuckles her seatbelt, lunges toward him and smashes her lips together with his. Ash blushes furiously as Lily moans and pleasure as she moves her lips rapidly against his. Ash doesn't know what to do or what to say, he just sits there and shock has his mind starts to think about what Serena would say if she found out about this.

 _"Dude, nice. You made out with my sister," Serena says with a teasing grin._

 _"No, no, it's not what you think," Ash begs. "I mean yeah, it is but -"_

 _"Oh, it's totally fine," Serena says with a wave of her hand. "I mean come on. She's super hot like me and she's like, 99% genetically identical to me and just has longer lighter blonde hair. So have fun dating my sister, just know that for the record that as of this moment I will never, ever, ever, ever date you ever! EVER!"_

Ash's eyes widen as he suddenly becomes terrified of the idea of never be given the chance to date Serena. He suddenly grabs Lily by the shoulders and pushes her away breaking the kiss.

"I-i-i'm so sorry, Lillie I can't do this," he says. "I think you're great and all but -"

"Great? You think I'm great?" Lillie says angrily. "What's your problem? I don't throw myself at your guys like, ever. I just made an exception because I think you're cute, and you think I'm great?! GREAT?!"

Ash tries to think of an explanation, but his attempts are interrupted by Lillie shoving him.

"Get out!" she screams. "Get the frick out!"

Ash panics and struggles to knuckle his seat belt and open the car door as Lillie pushes him out.

"I can't believe I almost put my tongue in your mouth for this crap! Goodbye!" she yells as she walks the car door and drives away.

Ash sits there with his bottom on the cement as he watches Lillie drive away. He breathes heavily, shocked at what had just transpired.

"S-s-she was about to put her tongue down my throat?" He asks in disbelief. "What the heck?"

The next day, Lily and Serena decide to get together after work to go to the beach and lie in the sun in their swimsuits. Lillie lays down in her chair absorbing the sun while Serena lies down reading a book. The two of them remain quiet until Lillie bites her lip and turns to her older sister.

"You know, you haven't asked me what happened between me and Ash," she says.

Serena frowns, nervous to learn about anything happening between her best friend and her sister."

"I'm respecting your privacy," she lies as she mentally thanks God that she is wearing her sunglasses to hide her eyes.

"He's a big, stupid ugly jerk," Lillie claims. "He just threw himself at me and told me to kiss him."

Serena raises her eyebrow and turns to her sister.

"Seriously?" She asks, unamused.

"Seriously," Lillie says. "He just got pissed off and try to come after me. Me, your little sister. Then I told him that I wasn't that kind of girl and that he got into this big rage. Then the police came and he just shot them on the head. Some of them have little kids and they'll never get to know their father and he didn't care he just stood there and laughed and laughed and laughed."

Serena silently snickers, not buying the rest of Lillie's story for a second. The idea of a bashful and nervous guy like Ash getting into a rage and killing police officers is the most ridiculous this she's ever heard.

"You don't say," she says trying hard not to laugh.

Lillie frowns and turns to Serena.

"Have you talked to him lately?" She asks.

"No," Serena answers.

"So he didn't talk about how I made a major fool out of myself?" Lillie asks.

Serena turns to her sister and says, "No."

Lillie mentally sighs, thankful that Ash didn't blab to her sister about last night. She looks away, closes her eyes and goes back to enjoying the heat of the sun on her skin. Serena goes back to her book like nothing was said, but then she finds herself smiling as if everything in the world is slightly better now.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

It has been 2 months since the wedding. Like any newlyweds, Brock and Holly barely leave their house as they are too busy spending so much time together when neither of them have to go to work. Ash, Serena, Lillie and all of their other friends barely get to see the married couple anymore much less hang out with him which for Ash is fine for him as it means less uncomfortable moments with his best friend and his new wife. Ash and Serena have been continuing to hang out whenever they both have the time and it seems like things are back to normal apart from Brock and Holly's marriage and the fact that Calem is still all the way in Kanto. As the days go by, Ash is starting to feel more sure that he really is in love with Serena, while Serena herself is growing more frustrated in on easy or the fact that her boyfriend is far away and she still has to wait another 3 months to see him again.

It is currently the afternoon and Serena was working on another animation project when her boss, Palermo asked her to come over to her office for a personal discussion.

'It's a complete disaster!" Palermo berates. "Practically everything in Sinnoh is going down the tubes and it's all thanks to Alain. Our partners constantly report that he's been nothing short of a jerk who keeps coming up late to meetings and criticizes their animators. It's a total embarrassment. On the plus side sarcastically speaking, he's making out with every Sinnoh woman he comes across as I so I guess he shall soon win the gold medal for biggest jackass in the business."

Serena winces at her boss words.

"Palermo, I'm sorry. I can't believe he would do that," she says.

"Yeah, well that's what I get for giving the well-deserved credit to someone who doesn't even deserve the title. I make one little mistake and everyone wants my head because I broke all their hearts," Palermo grumbles. "I need someone on Sinnoh full-time to clean up Alain's mess and I want it to be you, I mean you are the real heart of our business, and this whole thing was your idea from the very beginning. If you had just said yes to being project manager from the start, we'd have saved a lot of time and money."

Serena frowns uneasily and she bites her lip.

"Yeah, I'm still not sure I'm ready to do that," she says.

"Why not?" Palermo asks unamused. "You will get a car, and apartments, obviously a raise, and your artwork will be shown into entire regions once the whole thing is done. I need an answer for you by the end of the month. And to be clear, Serena, this is the last time I'm going to offer you a promotion."

Serena winces again friends keeping before she robotically nods and understanding Palermo waves her hand as if to bluntly say that is all and she nods again before walking back to her desk. She goes back to drawing, but her mind is only half interested in the picture she's making as her mind is on Palermo's proposition. On the one hand, she thinks that she may as well take this job since it really was her idea from the very beginning and it's not like staying here will make Calem come back anytime soon, but on the other hand she still would be away a whole year from Lily and Brock and Holly and Ash.

… Ash.

For some odd reason that she can't explain how just thinking of the name of this shy guy has been giving her such a warm feeling in a way that's different and unique compared to how she feels about anyone, even Calem. She has considered how the two of them have been getting a little closer by the day and he has proven to be the one person she can wholeheartedly come to talk when Lillie or any of her other friends are not around. The more she thinks about him, the more clear it is that he's really become the best thing that's been going on in her life ever since Calem left. But she doesn't know what it means. If anything it confuses her that she feels that way about her best guy friend.

Suddenly, she hears a ding from her computer and she discovers she has a new email message from Ash.

To:Queenofthesnarks2362

From: ThatguyintheAttic

How's it going, Serena?

So Brock and Holly came to visit me at work today. Yes, they are in fact alive. What a miracle. LOL. And making to tell me that they're going to hang out at Holly's uncle's cabin this weekend while he is away and they were wondering if you and I would like to join them. It's a three-bedroom cabin out in the mountains so we would have our own rooms while we go skating or skiing in the snowy mountains. Frankly, has odd as it is that they suggest that we go to some snowy mountains in the middle of summer, I think it sounds like a nice little get together. What do you think? Are you in?

Let either me or Brock and Holly know by Thursday if you want to come.

Ttyl,

Ash

Serena reads the message a couple of times before she starts thinking about it. On the one hand she agrees with Ash that it is ridiculous to go to those snowy mountains in the middle of summer, but on the other hand, it sounds like a nice time to unwind and spend some time away from civilization and think a little bit about Palermo's proposal. Also, the more she thinks about it, maybe this would be a nice opportunity to think about why she seems to be so fond of spending time with Ash. Finally, she sighs and decides to reply right away.

To: ThatguyintheAttic

From: Queenofthesnarks2362

Ash,

Heck yeah, that sounds great. Do I need to bring anything in particular apart from very warm winter clothes?

Serena

Serena Smiles, satisfy with her reply. She's about to start drawing again when Ash suddenly replies.

To: Queenofthesnarks2362

From: ThatguyintheAttic

Serena,

Actually yes. Holly said to bring your swimsuit because there are some hot tubs inside the cabin.

Ash

It is the weekend and as soon as work ended on Friday Brock, Holly, Ash, and Serena all got together to meet up at Brock and Holly's house and drove to the mountains. It was several hours until late at night that's they reach the cabin. Serena was giddy and excited as she saw how nice and cozy the cabin is from the inside and how Holly let her sleep in one of the beds that connects to a balcony where one of the two hot tubs is.

The group stays for the night as soon as they had unpacked and early the next morning they got ready for activities. They first went skiing and skateboarding at a resort 15 minutes away from the cabin by car. Holly and Ash decided to ski while Brock and Serena decided to snowboard. A struggle to connect his feet into the pads several times before he eventually needed help from Serena and she had to help him figure out how to ski properly. After a while, Ash begins to get the hang of it but was amazed to see Serena snowboard in style. She would make zigzaggy turns and jump off of hills and do a couple of tricks in mid-air. It amazed Ash so much that he almost ran into a tree as he gazed at the honey blonde woman that he's in love with.

Later in the afternoon, the group decides to go skating. Brock and Holly skate together hand-in-hand in perfect unison while Serena tries to teach a nervous Ash how to stand on his two feet trying hard not to laugh as he whimpers and struggles to not slip and fall every half a minute. Later that evening, the group gets together and starts a brief snow fight outside of the cabin before going back inside for dinner. Afterward, Brock starts a fire in the fireplace and they all get together to enjoy the warmth of the fire while having hot cocoa. They all smile warmly as they enjoy the warmth of the fire and quietly sip their drinks before Holly gets an idea.

"Hey, let's play a game," she says. "Think of the strangest place you have ever made out with someone."

Ash frowns at the idea while Brock and Serena grin and nod in agreement.

"Do we really have to?" He whines.

"All right, Mr. Ketchum," Serena says with a teasing smirk. "If that's your attitude, then you go first."

"Yeah, little buddy, give us a good one," Brock says with a grin.

Ash groans uncomfortably as all eyes are turned to him. Eventually, he sighs and starts his tale.

"I would have to say it was back when I was working at a bakery at a night shift," he says. "There is this tall, muscular, no-nonsense girl name Britney who had a major thing for me. One night, it was just the two of us and the manager had to leave early and since there was no one around and I was just there baking for the morning rush, she made a move and before I knew it she had her arms around me, practically crushing my spine and smashing her lips together with mine. Long story short, we started to date for a couple of weeks after that before she got fired and went to Johto, but at the end of the day, I will never feel comfortable eating a cupcake again."

"A no-nonsense woman who takes what she wants no ifs, ands, or buts? I think I would have liked to be friends with her," Serena says with a smug grin. "All right, Holly your turn. And it has to be someone before Brock. Same goes for you with your turn, Brock."

"Well okay, but it's going to be hard to think of one that isn't with Brock," Holly says before she starts scratching her chin and thought. "I would have to say at the back of a truck with this guy named Adam. We were dating back in high school and it was the first time he was going to kiss a girl and he was so nervous that he almost missed my lips. As soon as our lives connected he became more confident and that's when we started getting at it for a good 10 minutes."

"Not bad, not bad," Serena says. "How about you, Brock?"

"I would have to say inside a janitor's closet in a hospital," Brock says. "I was visiting my then-girlfriend, Joy who transferred from Floaroma Town. "She had just finished her shift and wanted to kiss me right away. I suggested an empty hospital room that no one was going to go in for a while, but she was impatient and just shoved me inside this closet that was so small that we could barely move and then she just started kissing me regardless of how cramped it was. Of course, it wasn't long before she suddenly decided to ditch me and go back to Floaroma Town to marry some dorky electrician and have a couple of kids."

"Well, her loss is my gain," Holly says with a coquettish look before she scoots closer to Brock and starts kissing his neck before Ash clears his throat to end the moment.

"Right, uh...what about you, Serena?" he asks.

Serena thinks hard before she says, "I'd go with the ferris wheel at the top with nothing to see for miles around and Calem and I are just kissing on the floor as the cart swings back and forth."

Ash frowns at the image of Calem and Serena kissing, while Brock and Holly are smirking.

"We have a winner," Holly announces.

Serena gives the couple a smug and proud look. But then her smile weakens as her mind drifts to Calem and Palermo's offer. Before she can think further about it, Brock and Holly put down their mugs and stand up.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but we're gonna go check out the hot tub in our room," Brock says as he picks Holly up bridal style, making her squeal and giggle as he carries her away from the room.

Ash and Serena sit in silence as Ash quietly sips his cocoa. Serena bites her lips as she debates on whether or not to make a similar suggestion.

"Ash," she finally says. "Would you… like to try out the hot tub in my room with me?"

Ash almost chokes on his cocoa, startled before turning to Serena. He blushes lightly and says, "S-s-sure. I'll go grab my swim trunks."

Serena nods in agreement and the two of them put down their mugs and head to their rooms. Ash changes to his swimming trunks and mentally tells himself it's just hanging out in the hot tub before he heads to Serena's room. By the time he gets inside, he sees through the glass door to the balcony that Serena is already in the hot tub. He takes a deep breath and walks outside to see her back facing him as she looks at the great view of the mountains from the balcony. As Ash quietly gets in the hot tub, trying not to whimper from how incredibly hot it is, he sees a small tattoo on screen is back of a butterfly and the name Michael above it.

"That tattoo, is that butterfly meant to be your dad?" He asks. "Is that his name?"

For a moment, Serena still has her back turned to Ash. Then she turns around with the calm look on her face and nods.

"Michael Yvonne," she says. "I got the tattoo after graduating high school after thinking about how much I wished he was there to see me graduate."

"What was he like?" Ash asks.

Serena takes a moment before she says, "He was a very sweet man. My mother is very snarky like me, but he always found a way to make her smile every day. Despite working two jobs, he still found the energy to play with me whenever he came home. And then…"

"And then he passed away," Ash says finishing her sentence.

"Yeah," Serena says sadly. "I guess I picked a butterfly because it was one of the first things I ever drew and it was around the time that he thought I should find a career out of drawing. Now that I'm older, I know he was trying to be a cheery dad when he said it back then like a normal parent watching their kid do something new, but I still took it to heart. I guess animation is just one of the few things I have to keep his memory alive even if he's been dead and cremated for over twenty years. All the same, I wanted the tattoo on my back for good measure so that he is still near me whether I'm drawing or not. Does that make any sense?"

"Yes, it does," Ash says sincerely.

Serena gives Ash a small but sincere smile before she lays her back against the wall and lays her head with her eyes closed back to continue enjoying the hot water. Ash decides to do the same from his side of the tub and the two of them sit in silence until Ash hears Serena's voice again.

"Wow, look at the stars," she says softly.

Ash opens his eyes to look at the sky. Sure enough, countless stars are surrounding the night sky. Ash smiles in amazement and looks over at Serena to see her watching the sky with a serene smile.

"Oh, look! Shooting stars!" she calls out pointing at the sky.

Ash looks up just in time to see several shooting stars zoom across the sky within a blink of an eye. He stares in awe as he's never seen such a spectacle before.

"Makes you wish we could see the sky like this every night at home, huh?" Serena says with a smile.

"Sure, but then it wouldn't be as special as it is now," Ash says.

"Good point, Mr. Ketchum. Good point," Serena says.

The two of them continue to look at the night sky for several minutes. Then, Serena starts shivering and rubs her shoulders.

"Man, I'm still a little cold," she complains. "Aren't you a little cold? Cause I'm starting to wonder why they built this cabin with a hot tub out in the middle of the always-snowy mountain."

"Uh...yeah, I'm a little cold," Ash lies.

Serena whimpers as she slouches further into the hot water but still feels unsatisfied. Then she gets an idea that makes her uncomfortable at first but the more she thinks about it, the more she wants to do it.

"Ash?"

"Yeah?" Ash asks.

"Maybe a little body heat will warm me up better," Serena suggests.

If it wasn't for the fact that it's so dark out and the light hanging next to the glass door was barely bright enough to show his face, Serena would have seen Ash blushing like mad. He sits on his side of the tub, freaking out mentally as he is unsure about whether or not Serena really means what she said. Serena sighs and gets straight to the point.

"Ash?"

"Y-yeah?" Ash responds nervously.

"I'll snuggle if you snuggle back."

Ash's whole body freezes as if the hot water turned into a giant ice cube.

"Oh...okay," he manages to say.

With that, Serena moves over to Ash's side of the tub, wraps her arms around him and rests her head on his right shoulder. Ash takes a moment to keep his cool before he wraps his arms around Serena and rests his head against hers. Without even realizing it, Serena lets out a serene sigh as she closes her eyes and enjoys the comfort of resting her head on Ash's shoulder and the feeling of his arms around her. Likewise, Ash closes his eyes and he smiles in a state of bliss as he feels Serena holding him tightly and her head rested on his shoulder. As the two of them hug closely, one thought is simultaneously on their minds.

 _I don't know how or why, but this might be the happiest time of my life._

For another 10 minutes, Ash and Serena held each other close until they decide it was time to get off and get ready for bed. On the inside, Ash felt okay with this, but on the inside, he felt like he lost a part of himself when Serena let go of him and got out of the hot tub. As Serena grabs two towels that were lying next to the tub, she feels a strange pain on her chest as if without realizing it she was feeling something similar, like she also just lost a part of her by separating herself from Ash. Regardless, Ash soon gets out of the tub and they both wrap themselves around in towels before going back inside Serena's room. They silently enjoy the inside warmth until Serena notices something strange.

"Where are my clothes and backpack?" she asks.

"What?" Ash asks in confusion.

"I left my backpack next to the bed and laid my clothes next to it after I changed into my swimsuit," she explains. "You didn't touch them when you came in, did you?"

"No, I didn't even notice them," Ash answers honestly.

Serena frowns and looks around the room, but can't find her clothes or backpack anywhere.

"Ugh, where could they be? I want to change to my pajamas," She complains. "Maybe Holly has a spare pair. It'll be too big for me but I'll have to -"

But when she turns the knob on her bedroom door, it doesn't open. Serena grows annoyed as she tries to yank the door open.

"For heaven's sake, what is going on?"

Ash stands where he is confused with what is going on. Then suddenly, it starts to hit him. He looks down noticing that he's only in his swimming trunks and Serena is in her swimsuit with none of her other clothes in her bedroom. It's just the two of them barely wearing anything at all. Brock and Holly are trying to use this as a means to somehow get him and Serena to hook up by trapping them in this small, one single-sized bedroom.

"Serena," He finally says, grabbing the honey blonde woman's attention. "They took your stuff and locked us here."

Serena turns to the raven-haired man in disbelief until the pieces come together in her mind. Her shock turns to anger as she starts banging on the door violently.

"BROCK! HOLLY! OPEN THE DOOR AND GIVE ME BACK MY STUFF!" she barks. "I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!"

"They know, they just don't care," Ash says. "If I know Brock, he'll see this through to the end and Holly probably encouraged it."

Serena growls in disbelief as she bangs the door one last time. Then she walks over and sits on her bed.

"I'm going to remove their heads from their shoulders for this," she snarls.

"At this point, you have my blessing," Ash says feeling bitter for his best friend. "Meanwhile, I guess you should get ready for bed and I'll think of a way to use my towel as a blanket or something while sleeping on the floor.

"No, I don't want you to do that," Serena says. "You shouldn't have to sleep on the floor like an almost naked homeless guy."

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't be a part of my stupid best friend's ridiculous prank, yet here we are," Ash grumbles.

Serena frowns disapprovingly.

"Don't be a jackass," she rebukes.

Ash turns to Serena with a look of disbelief.

"I'm not being a jackass," he says.

"Yes, you are," Serena counters. "You're treating this like it's just a childish prank when they crossed a line that they clearly should not have crossed."

At this point, Ash suddenly grows angry at Serena's accusation and snaps.

"I'm not treating this like a childish prank, and I am not being a jackass," he barks. "Brock is being a jackass, Holly is being a jackass, head frankly you are acting like a jackass right now. Me? I'm standing here with my body barely covered with these stupid swimming trunks and a wet towel while you have your nice warm bed. How in the world does that make me a jackass?"

Serena sits there shocked to see her shy friend act this way. But then her shock turns to a bitter frown.

"Fine," she snarls.

"Fine?" Ash asks, still angry. "What does fine mean?"

"It means we'll share the bed," Serena answers. "So quit your bickering and get in."

And any other time, Ash would be blushing uncontrollably at Serena's command to sleep in the same bed as her. But because of his frustration against Brock, Holly and even the honey blonde woman he loves, he does nothing but wave his arms that's a way of saying, "whatever," before he walks over and gets under the covers on the opposite side of the bed from Serena. Without saying any more words, Serena gets under the covers on her side of the bed and they lie down with their backs facing each other barely not touching each other. The two of them remain in silence as they struggle to fall asleep.

The next morning, Ash slowly wakes up first. He sits up and checks his surroundings when he notices Serena's backpack and her clothes nicely folded right next to the bedroom door. He turns to the sleeping honey blonde woman and nudges her arm gently. She groans in annoyance as she slowly wakes up and turns to her raven-haired friend.

"They brought your stuff back," Ash says plainly.

Serena sits up to indeed see her backpack and clothes lying next to the door. She gets out of bed and walks over to the door, turns the knob and finds it open like nothing happened. Her face is unfazed as she turns to Ash.

"Get out and get changed," she orders.

Ash frowns as he gets out of bed and walks out of the room to get changed. Within 10 minutes, both of them leave their rooms wearing their normal clothes and carrying their backpacks. They exit the cabin to find Holly and Brock standing in front of the car and waiting for them with playful grins on their faces.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Holly calls out to Serena teasingly.

"You had a nice nap, little buddy?" Brock asks Ash who gives the taller man an angry glare.

"You're a jackass, Brock," he says bluntly before he and Serena get in the car on opposite sides. Brock and Holly turn to each other and shrug before they get in the car with Holly driving and they begin the long drive back to Vaniville Town.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

As soon as Serena enters her apartment she drops her backpack on the floor, walks to her bedroom and plummets to her bed with a depressed sigh. Neither she or Ash said a thing to each other or even glanced at each other during the entire trip back home. Brock and Holly were surprisingly mature enough not to say a word during the entire trip and no one even bothered to say a friendly goodbye when they drop Serena off at her apartment first.

In her mind, Serena feels confused She was hoping this special time with Ash might give her some clarity about how she seems to be feeling with him right now with Palermo's offer to go to Sinnoh still in the air. At first,it seemed like things might start to become a little clearer after that moment in the hot tub, but after Brock and Holly locked them in her room with nothing but their swimsuits on and her single bed and even worse she argued with Ash for the first time makes her feel more lost than she ever was before. The image of seeing Ash look so angry and bitter at her while the two of them argue was a side of him she had never seen before and she silently prays she will never see again.

So now her boyfriend of over 5 years is still miles away, and her boss is pretty much demanding that she makes a decision on whether or not to leave Kalos as well, and now she feels a rift between herself in the one person she feels closest to with Calem gone. Nothing feels right for the snarky honey blonde woman anymore.

After about an hour of mentally moping about her troubles. She finally stands up and walks over to the kitchen for a glass of juice. She takes a brief sip of her drink quietly as she sits at the kitchen counter laying her head against her crossed elbows. She sits there and does nothing apart from taking a couple sips juice here and there until she suddenly catches her eye on the open airplane ticket to Kanto. She remembers that she can use any time and in the three months that Calem has been gone she still hasn't used it. With Palermo's deadline and her confusing thoughts of Ash on her mind, she considers that out of everything she's done to consider this possibility she hasn't gone to visit Calem.

After giving it more thought, she thinks maybe some time with her boyfriend that she misses so much might clear things up about Sinnoh and her shy, raven-haired friend. After a couple seconds of thinking, she takes out her phone, looks up the next flight, grabs her backpack, calls Lillie to tell her that she's going to Kanto and leaves her apartment to catch a taxi to take her to the Kalos Airport.

After an 8-hour flight, Serena takes a cab to Cerulean City. By the time she makes it to where Calem's apartment building is, it's late at night and no one replies when she rings the bell to his apartment. With a pout, she sits on the tall stairway to the building and waits for Calem, figuring he's out somewhere.

After waiting for about half an hour, she hears the sound of a man and a woman laughing. She looks up to see Calem and a woman with brown eyes and short brown-hair walking towards the apartment building with their arms around their shoulders. The woman appears to have had a little too much to drink as she and Calem talk and laugh like drunk idiots. They make it to the staircase before Calem looks up and sees Serena sitting there and staring at him.

"Serena!" he says in alarm as he quickly let's go of the brown haired woman. The woman panics as she suddenly loses her balance and comedically falls down the steps. Serena and Calem turn to her in alarm as they run over to her and carry her inside to Calem's apartment. Calem rushes over to the kitchen, finds an ice bag and gently puts on the brown-haired woman's forehead which is already swelling. Calem sighs before he turns to Serena who gives him a sad look.

"Bianca here is just a friend from the Johto side of the team," he quickly explains. "She lives in the apartment next door to me and we just went out for drinks with the rest of the team after work and I was just helping her home."

"Calem, I'm not accusing you of anything," Serena says.

Calem sighs in relief, thankful for her understanding.

"You don't have to worry about his loyalty, madame," Bianca says as she holds the ice bag on her forehead. "I'm not some Johtoian woman who kisses good looking, black-haired guys like an animal."

Serena chuckles a little before turning back to Calem.

"Babe, why didn't you tell me you were coming?" He asks.

"I wanted to surprise you," Serena answers before she speaks her seems and says a half-hearted, "surprise."

Calem gives her a small smile as Bianca stands up.

"Well, I'm going to bed and cover my ears with socks so I don't hear you two making out loudly," she jokes. "Nice meeting you, Serena."

"Yeah, you too, Bianca," Serena says as the Johtoian woman leaves. Calem runs his fingers through his hair and sighs before turning to his girlfriend.

"This is not how I envisioned welcoming you to Kanto," he says.

"How did you envision doing it?" Serena asks with a small smirk. "Did you intend to have a big parade with balloons and everything?"

Calem smiles warmly, amused with Serena's remark. He walks over to her, places his hands on her cheeks as stares at her lovingly.

"Welcome to Kanto," he says sweetly.

Serena gives him a small smile before Calem leans in for a kiss. Serena presses her lips against his, eager to give her all into the moment for the first time in three months. But before Calem wraps his arms around hers to deepen the kiss, Serena suddenly breaks it and looks away sadly.

"Are you alright?" Calem asks worriedly.

Serena doesn't say anything but lays her head against Calem's chest. In her mind, she realizes that something is wrong. She's been dreaming about kissing her boyfriend again ever since he got on the cab taking him to the Kalos Airport three months ago and that kiss they just had was perfectly executed. In her heart, she knew that Calem was giving his all to express how much he still loves her and how much he missed her. Nothing Calem did at that moment was out of place from any kiss they've ever had in the five, long years that the two of them have been together.

The problem was her.

Serena can't explain how or why, but despite the sincerity she put into pressing her lips against Calem's there was no spark in it. Any other time, she would feel something that would lead to her kissing him again and again, drowning in her love for her boyfriend. But instead, there was so little connection in her kiss that she feels more lost than she already was the moment she woke up next to Ash in the cabin.

"Serena?"

Serena snaps out of her daze and looks up to see Calem looking at her concerned.

"Calem…" she finally says softly. "I don't know what to do."

The rest of the night, Serena and Calem sit down and she explains Palermo's proposition for her to go to Sinnoh and how she feels unsure about it. A part of her wanted to tell him about Brock and Holly's mischievous deed against her and Ash if for no other reason then to confess something to her boyfriend so that there still would be no secrets between the two of them. But she mentally rebukes the idea because it would lead to telling Calem the strange feelings that she has for Ash.

Calem listened to her intently like the good caring boyfriend that he is, but when she finally stop talking he didn't say anything. It was clear in his eyes that he doesn't even know what to say, but after a moment he just walks over to her and hugs her tightly hoping that would somehow make her feel better. Serena smiles sadly and lightly hugs him back, appreciative of the gesture, but deep down she knew in her heart that what Calem is trying to do is not working.

Eventually, they both went to sleep with Calum sleeping on the couch while Serena sleeps on his bed. The next morning, Calem leaves for work while Serena stays in his apartment. Before Calem left, however, he came up the idea that Serena should create a list of pros between going to Sinnoh and staying in Kalos. Serena smiles and agrees with her boyfriend's idea and so after she had breakfast, she takes out a sheet of paper as begins to write out the pros between Sinnoh and Kalos.

Sinnoh

1) More money

2) More control of the animation

3) Car

4) All expenses paid

5) Good for career

6) See new sights

Kalos

1) My old job

2) My life

3) My friends

4) Lillie

5) Ash

Serena frowns deeply after writing down Ash's name. She stares at his name as if her feelings for him will determine the decision of either Sinnoh or Kalos. She has no idea what she would even say to him the next time they speak to each other. In fact, no one but Lillie knows that she even decided to fly to Kanto. So, as far has Ash knows, she is still in Kalos in her apartment probably still feeling bitter towards him, Brock and Holly for what happened at the cabin.

"But am I still feeling bitter towards Ash?" She asks herself in her mind. "I mean I'm still peeved at Brock and Holly and I'm not pleased with the way Ash acted. But then again, I was the one who is acting angry first and called him a jackass. I probably hurt his feelings really badly when I accused him of being one. After all, he was still being nice to me despite the situation we were in. He was willing to let me sleep in the bed while he sleeps on the floor. Maybe if I hadn't argued against it he wouldn't have been so angry at me. But then again, why is it that out of everyone's feelings I'm afraid of hurting or seeing displeased with me in any way it's this one friend of mine who is a guy instead of anyone else including Calem?"

She growls angrily and she runs her fingers through her hair almost tempted to try to tear it out of her head. Ultimately, she decides to go out for a walk in the city and try to calm down. She walks for a couple hours and enjoys some of the sites, but after a while, she gets tired and finds a burger restaurant nearby and decides to go get lunch.

Inside the diner, a friendly waitress with short orange hair walks over to her table and greets her with a smile.

"Hi, welcome to the Sensational Sisters Diner. Can I get you started with anything?" She asks.

"Uh, just coffee right now," Serena answers plainly.

"Sure thing," the orange-haired waitress replies as she pours some coffee into the mug in front of Serena. "I'll give you a few minutes to look at the menu.

Serena merely gives a half-hearted nod as the waitress walks away. After a second, Serena takes a sip from her coffee and picks up the menu. Her eyes are mostly glued to the burger section, but then she turns the menu around just out of curiosity about the other options on the menu and her eyes catch the fried section. In the small section, one of the options reads three fried pickles on a small platter. Serena stares at this in disbelief and groans as it suddenly makes her think of when she first went out to dinner with Ash and he ordered fried pickles much to her disgust before they started talking about Fool's Gold. Eventually, the orange-haired waitress walks in and looks at her curiously.

"Is everything alright?" She asks.

"Yeah, it's fine," Serena lies.

The orange-haired waitress frowns and raises her eyebrows at Serena.

"It's the fried pickles, isn't it?" She asks.

Serena turns to the waitress surprised before she gives her an amused smirk.

"You say that like you get reactions like mine a lot with that so-called dish," she says.

"We sure do," the waitress replies with her own smirk. "People act disgusted with it right away thinking it's the most ridiculous thing they've ever heard in their lives until they decide to try it and tell their friends and family that it's actually not bad. Now it's become a regular in our restaurant and so is almost never ridiculed except for people who are new here. And I'm assuming you're not from around here, are you?"

Serena shrugs and says, "You got me. I'm from Kalos."

The waitress raises her eyebrows again in interest and says, "Kalos, huh? Interesting. I have an ex from high school who moved there a few years ago."

"Oh yeah?" Serena asks half-heartedly. "Was he one of your regulars who used to eat your fried pickles?"

"As a matter of fact, he was the one who gave me the idea," the waitress answers. "I was trying to think of unique things to cook and I encouraged him to help me even though he was very shy. I told him that the idea of deep frying food is that everything tastes better and that's when he suggested testing my claim with deep-frying pickles."

Serena scoffs and says, "That sounds like someone I know who said that when we went to a diner once and they had fried pickles."

"Well, you know what they say, don't knock it until you try it," the waitress says with a grin. "Tell you what. Why don't I get you a plate of fried pickles and if you don't like it, you can have anything else you'd like, on the house."

Serena hesitates, close to deciding to say no straight out because of her dislike for fried food, but then she considers the likelihood of hating the friend pickles and getting anything else she wants for free. And maybe her disgust for the dish will be so big that she'll be thinking about it for hours on end instead of Ash.

"You know what, lady? I accept your challenge," she says with a smirk. "One plate of those pickles and make it snappy."

"You got it," the orange-haired waitress says with a grin.

The waitress leaves to place the order, and Serena begins to sip her coffee again and looks at the menu, thinking about what she's going to get for free. Eventually, she feels her phone vibrating and she takes it out of her pocket to see a text from Calem.

 _Calem: Hey, babe._ Me _and Bianca were thinking of going drinking again with a friend of ours from the team._ You wanna _come? Maybe it could help you get your mind off things._

Serena hesitates for a few seconds before she shrugs and types her reply.

 _Serena: Yeah, I'm game._

 _Calem: Awesome. I'll pick you up around 8._

 _Serena: I'll be waiting._

By the time Serena sends the last message, the orange-haired waitress arrives with a plate of deep-fried pickles. Then she sits down and looks at Serena with anticipation, making the honey blonde woman raise her eyebrow.

"I want to see how you react to it," the waitress says.

Serena rolls her eyes before she stares at the pickles and takes a deep breath. Already, she feels her stomach turning at the smell of deep fry breading as she reluctantly picks up one of the pickles. She mentally prays she will still have an appetite left after this before she takes a bite. At first, she just chews quietly, then she begins to frown in annoyance.

"Crap," she says with her mouth full. "This isn't bad."

"Yes! Score one for the diner!" the waitress says happily as she shakes her fists in the air in victory.

"Oh rub it in," Serena rebukes as she takes another bite.

The orange-haired waitress merely giggles in amusement as she watches Serena continue eating her lunch.

"So this ex-boyfriend of yours," Serena begins as she takes another pickle. "How long did you two date?"

The orange-haired waitress' smile weakens into a sad one as she looks at the table with a sigh.

"Five years," she answers. "We started dating during the 8th grade, but we didn't really count that year because we didn't become serious until freshman year of high school. He pretty much was there to support me with my cooking while I supported him with wanting to become a doctor like his parents."

Serena frowns as the last part sounds similar to Ash. she shakes her head and asks another question.

"Why did you two break up?"

The waitress' frown deepens as she looks up to face Serena.

"We just did, I guess," she says. "He went to college out of region and I wanted to stay here and he decided that the long distance wouldn't work."

Serena's own frown deepens as she thinks about Calem taking the managing job without consulting her.

"Did you ever think about trying it just to be sure?" she asks.

"Absolutely," the waitress answers. "He was so special to me that I would have done anything to keep us together. But he shot it down just like that with his logic about how it's a bad idea. Admittingly, I'm over him for the most part, but I still wish I could find out how things could have been if we did give the long distance a good try."

"You probably would have been disappointed, either way, sister," Serena grumbles as she puts down the pickle she's eating and rest her head on her arm against the table. "Take it from someone who is visiting a boyfriend who is living several regions away from me just for his job. It's been three out of the six months that he's staying here and after all this time of wanting to hold and kiss him, nothing felt like it was before when I saw him again last night."

The waitress looks at Serena sadly and nods in understanding.

"That must be awful," she says.

"Yeah, but do you know what the worst thing is?" Serena asks. "I think I'm developing...something for this friend of mine back home. A guy."

The waitress' eyes widen and she gives Serena a concerned look.

"That's...troubling," she says. "What is it about this other guy that would make you feel that way compared to your own boyfriend?"

Serena doesn't say anything for a moment, but then she looks at the waitress dead in the eyes and confesses, "He's there for me. He listens to me, he makes me laugh, he was there to comfort me, sure he can be a wimp every now and then but it's kind of charming in an odd sort of way."

"And your boyfriend doesn't listen to you?" the waitress asks.

"Not enough to keep me from being bitter," Serena snarls. "You see, I thought we both knew that our jobs should never come before our relationship, that we would never try a long distance relationship and we would stick together and eventually get married and have only three kids if he's lucky enough to stop me from having more."

The waitress chuckles lightly at that last part before Serena continues.

"And then the day I let this guy from my job get a promotion that everyone says I deserve because it would have meant going to Sinnoh and be away from my boyfriend, he had the gall to accept an offer to be a regional manager here without even consulting me. He just assumed our relationship will be fine because we've been together five years already so it has to last just fine while he's here in Kanto for six months. Even this other guy with his bashful attitude and his abnormal views about romance was shocked that my boyfriend would do that to me. What's worse is that I couldn't say no because it is his dream job and I would have looked like a bad girlfriend if told him he can't go because he has to stay in Kalos with me. So for three months I have to swallow my pride a little and endure not having my boyfriend around and the only person who is capable of comforting me through it more than my friends or my sister is my best friend who is a guy and I think I'm getting these strange feelings for him and I don't know how to handle them."

Silence fills the area after Serena finishes her rant. She takes a deep breath as she looks at the orange-haired waitress apologetically.

"Sorry," she says. "I guess I've been building a lot of that up for a little too long."

"It's okay," the waitress says politely. "Clearly you needed it. There's nothing wrong with a woman letting out everything she feels rather than hiding it."

Serena scoffs and says, says, "I know, that's why I'm usually very snarky around people," with a smirk.

The two women chuckle and Serena sighs again, feeling a little better. Eventually, she goes back to eating her pickles until she has finished the last of them. She pats her belly, satisfied with the meal until the waitress speaks up.

"Do you want to hear my advice?" she asks.

Serena looks at her with a raised eyebrow and waves her hand as a way of saying, "go ahead."

"You need to tell your boyfriend how you feel about the long-distance straight out," the orange-haired waitress says bluntly. "It's clearly eating you up that you haven't told him how you felt and if you're not careful, he might assume that your relationship can handle the long distance whenever it has to in his eye. Your relationship can't survive if you're letting your feeling out to another guy rather than your boyfriend of all people. Trust me."

Serena looks down at her empty plate and nods in agreement.

"Yeah, I should," she admits. "Besides, what's the point of having a reputation for being snarky when I can't even handle my own tall figure of pure cuteness."

The orange-haired waitress laughs out loud at Serena's nickname for Calem.

"When you put it that way, he sounds like a dream," she chuckles. "I bet the other guy pales in comparison."

"Nah, he's pretty cute too," Serena says. "He has the same black hair and brown eyes like my boyfriend but he's shorter. My sister once described him as someone who would let you hold him in a body hug like a human-sized teddy bear when you two are watching TV on the couch."

The waitress makes a girly giggle.

"That sounds like my ex," she says. "What are the names of him and your boyfriend anyway?"

"My boyfriend's name is Calem," Serena answers. "And my guy friend's name is Ash."

Suddenly, the orange-haired waitresses' eyes widen in shock.

"Ash Ketchum?" she asks.

Serena looks at her surprised before it hits her.

"What did you say your name is, again?" she asks.

"I didn't," the waitress said.

Serena frowns suspiciously until she remembers her conversation about serious relationships with Ash at the bar at Lumiose City.

"You're Misty," she realizes.

Misty gives her a small smile and nods. Serena rubs her forehead as everything Misty said about her ex-boyfriend makes sense.

"I'm sorry," Misty says.

"Sorry for what?" Serena asks confused.

Misty sighs and looks at Serena seriously.

"Be careful with how you handle things with him," she says. "One wrong move and you'll lose more than just a friend."

Serena stares at her confused, but before she can ask anything else, Misty stands up.

"Meal's on the house," she says bluntly. "Thank you for coming in."

With that, the orange-haired waitress walks away before Serena could say a word, making the honey blonde woman fell even more lost than before.

Later that night, after Serena want back to Calem's apartment, Calem came to pick take her out for drinks with Bianca and a Kanto native co-worker named Tracy. Calem, Bianca, and Tracy did most of the talking while Serena just sipped her beer until she gets an idea.

"Hey, are any of you interested in trying a little game?" she asks.

Calem, Bianca and Tracy turn to her, surprised to hear her speak so suddenly before Tracy says, "Sure, what kind of game?"

"It's this silly game I tried with a bunch of friends back in Kalos," Serena says. "Basically, you have to say where is the weirdest place you'd ever made out with someone."

The other three members of the groups look at each other uneasily, but they give Serena polite smiles as Calem says, "Sure, we can try that."

"Great," Serena says. "Who wants to go first?'

The group hesitates before Bianca says, "I would have to say out at the dock with a guy who was about to get on a boat. How about you, Tracy?"

Tracy chuckles nervously and says, "Off the top of my head, in my backyard with my high school girlfriend."

Serena frowns as none of those answers sound as interesting as the ones from back at the cabin with Holly, Brock, and Ash. Then she turns to Calem with a flirtatious look.

"How about it, tall figure of pure cuteness?' she asks. "Can you think of something from all our five years."

Calem scratches his head before he answers.

"How about that one makeout when we had that picnic at the park near Pomace Mountain?" he says.

Serena frowns and looks away from Calem with a pout, disappointed that he didn't go with the story about them making out at a ferris wheel. Bianca notices and decides to try to lighten the mood for her co-worker's girlfriend.

"So, you must be really proud of Calem," she says to Serena. "Has he told you how the negotiations are going?"

Serena turns to the Johtoian woman and bluntly says, "No."

"Oh he's killing it out there," Tracy says with a grin. "I've never seen someone handle discussions about copyright law like a boss."

This makes Serena smirk a little as she turns to a bashful Calem.

"Oh, has he?" she asks with a hint of pride in her voice.

"You better believe it," Bianca says. "The people from Unova are trying to force these over strict regulations on copyright law and he has been taking them down almost single-handedly."

"Oooo, now that's what I like to hear," Serena says, eyeing Calem with a kittenish look.

"Oh yeah. He has the whole negotiations in his hands," Tracy says.

"And we're so happy that he's able to stay for another six months," Bianca says cheerfully.

It this moment, Serena's face falls and her eye twitches violently. Calem becomes unsettled as Serena almost freezes into place. Bianca and Tracy have only a moment to realize that something is off about the honey blonde woman again before Serena stands up and angrily slaps Calem so hard on the face that he falls off his seat.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" she screams before she storms out of the bar. She walks about a block away from the place before she hears Calem running up to her.

"Serena!" he calls out.

"Get away from me, Calem!" Serena barks bitterly.

"Look, I haven't' accepted the offer yet," Calem pleads. "Obviously, I was planning on talking to you about it first."

"Obviously?" Serena snaps as she turns to face Calem. "There's nothing obvious about you talking to me about it. You didn't even consult me about coming here while I'm all the way in Kalos in the first place!"

"Well, I thought you'd be happy for me and agreed we'd be okay for six months," Calem protests.

"Well, guess what, I'm not okay," Serena yells. "I never was okay with you abandoning me for six whole months. I only did it because it was your dream and I would look like a cow if I made you give it up just to stay with me. For that matter, did you even try to think about asking me first? Did you ever think for one freaking second to consider that you should ask your girlfriend before assuming I was going to be fine without you for six heaven-forsaken months?! And only now you are thinking of talking to me before accepting an offer to keep us apart even longer? What's the matter with you?! I mean you never even asked me to move here with you."

Calem looks at her dumbfounded and Serena just turns around and keeps walking away from him. Eventually, Calem catches up with her again and steps in front of her with an apologetic look.

"You're right, it was wrong of me to assume that," he says sincerely. "But I don't want to ask you to quit a job you love. I mean you never offered."

"You never asked," Serena counters.

"Well, then I'm asking you now," Calem says determinedly. "I mean there must be some great animation companies here, and maybe you'd enjoy it better over here."

"I couldn't do that to Palermo," Serena snarls. "She's been generous enough giving me this week to make my decision as it is and I could not turn my back on her in that way while she's in her dilemma."

Calem sighs in frustration and says, "Okay, so take the job. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. You'd be in Sinnoh, I'd be here and we can meet in the middle. Like when we have free time from both jobs, we can meet in Johto, Hoenn, Aloha - heck it could be a story we can tell our kids. Doesn't that sound romantic?"

"No," Serena says bluntly. "If anything, it sounds lonely."

Calem sighs again defeated and looks at his girlfriend with a pleasing look.

"Look, I'm just trying to make this work. Okay?" he says softly. "I mean don't you want to make this work? To make us work?"

Serena doesn't do anything but stare at Calem. In her mind, she can't deny the sincerity in Calem's eyes. She knows that he's really trying hard to work things out for their relationship. But no matter how serious or desperate her boyfriend is, Serena can't escape this feeling that she doesn't have a real answer for him.

Without a word, she walks away from Calem and doesn't look back.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Ash has been feeling almost as lonely as he used to be ever since the night at the cabin. He hasn't made any attempts to talk to Brock and Holly about what happened and he's afraid to try to call or text Serena, figuring she still is upset with him. He wishes he knew what he could say to fix this uneasy tension that has been building up between them ever since the weekend. It emotionally hurts him more because things were looking up between them when they were in the hot tub. A part of him wants to smile whenever he thinks of the moment that he and Serena were snuggling with her head resting on his shoulder, but that memory feels tainted with the knowledge that it was followed with discovering Brock and Holly's plan and how he and Serena argued before reluctantly sharing the bed.

It is the Tuesday after the weekend at Holly's uncle's cabin and Ash decides to go for a walk in the park. He sees people playing frisbees with their dogs or having picnics with their families and loved ones, making him feel more lonely than before. As he walks, however, he finds Brock sadly sitting on a park bench with a six-pack of canned beers lying next to him. Ash frowns bitterly at his best friend for what he and his wife did, but he notices that Brock is looking down on the dumps. He hesitates before he walks over to the taller man who notices him coming.

"Hey, little buddy," Brock greets with a half-hearted smile. "How's it going."

"I could ask you the same question," Ash says.

Brock frowns and takes a sip of his beer before turning back to Ash.

"Holly's spending the night at Autumn's," he says sadly. "We had a fight. Our first fight as a married couple just like that."

Ash frowns and takes pity on his best friend before sitting down next to him. Brock robotically offers him a beer to which Ash's reluctantly accepts. The two of them sit down silently sipping their beers while they watch everyone else enjoy the sunny day. After a while, Brock sighs and turns to Ash.

"So...um...I'm sorry," he says. "I let Holly talk me into it even though I knew it was a bad idea."

Ash frowns as he turns to his best friend.

"I'm not like you, Brock," he says bluntly. "I can't just hook up with someone if they're already with someone else. It was wrong when my parents did it to each other, it was wrong when Miette did it to me, and it was wrong when you and Holly did it to her ex."

Brock lowers at his shorter friend.

"You don't think the fact that we got married kind of justifies that we did it?" he asks.

"No, I don't," Ash says. "Not unless you want to be married by someone who doesn't like cheating."

"Hey, that's my wife, Ash," Brock snaps. "Holly talks a good game, but she's been hurt like everybody else. Her ex was horrible to her. He treated her real bad. It's complicated. Honestly, all this love stuff is complicated."

Ash looks away from Brock who takes another sip of his beer before he speaks again.

"But you know what? It's actually good that love is complicated," he says. "Because if it's too simple, you've got no reason to try. And if you have no reason to try, you don't. In fact, I think I just described you with that last part now that I think about it."

Ash looks at Brock in disbelief before he glowers at him.

"You know what? Maybe you're right, but either way, you're a jackass, Brock," she says.

Without a word, Ash stands up, chugs the rest of his beer and storms away. Brock makes no attempt to call him back or apologize for what he said which suits Ash just fine. As Ash walks away, however, Brock's last words begin to hit him.

It's actually good that love is complicated. Because if it's too simple, you've got no reason to try, and if you have no reason to try, you don't. In fact, I think I just described you with that last part not that I think about it.

Ash stops walking as he thinks about what Brock said. Ash has always viewed himself as someone who knows when to get out of a relationship when the time is right, but maybe, in reality, it's because he's never really made an effort to keep one afloat when things we looking bad. Every woman he has dumped in the past whether it is Misty or Miette or anyone else has made a wholehearted effort to stay with him but he never has it in his mind to say yes to at least try to make it work. Maybe he would still act this way even if he managed to ever date Serena no matter how much he loves her. If they were together right now, he might have considered ending it just because of their spat at the cabin. Ash stops walking and has a sad feeling inside his chest at the idea of ending things with Serena just over that. Of all the woman he has ever had feelings for in his life, he now accepts that he would never forgive himself if he ended things with Serena so recklessly no matter how much she means to him.

With all of that finally realized, Ash decides to go to Serena's apartment and apologize to her and tell her how he feels about her. He runs from the park over to her apartment building, figuring she should be home from work by now. When he knocks on the door, he waits for a minute before opens to reveal Lillie in a bath towel. Lillie frowns at the sight of the raven-haired man.

"Hi," she says bluntly.

"Hi," Ash replies.

"Come in or whatever," Lillie says uncaringly.

Ash politely nods "thanks" as he enters the apartment

"I just jogged over her to feed the cat," Lillie explains."But if I don't shower right away my pores get all clogged and I get this, like, zit-next on my forehead."

Ash looks at her confused and asks, "Okay, but why are you feeding the cat?"

"So it doesn't starve to death," Lillie says in a snarky tone.

"Yeah by why can't Serena feed it?" Ash clarifies.

"Because she flew to Kanto," Lillie answers.

Ash's face falls and he looks away sadly.

"Of course, she did," he mutters.

Lillie frowns suspiciously at his response and studies his sad face. It takes a moment before it finally becomes clear to her.

"Holy cow, you like her," she says with a grin, catching Ash's attention. "You like Serena."

Ash's face turns red as he finds a way to distract Lillie.

"I...uh...um...get in the shower. I can see your blackheads from right here," he says desperately.

"Oh no. Don't try to get me sidetracked just because you're so busted," Lillie in a matter-of-factually tone.

Ash sighs in defeat while Lillie walks over to him.

"Look, you are a nice guy and you're amusing, but Serena loves Calem," she says. "They're gonna get married and they're gonna live happily ever after. At the end of the day, you're just gonna be this guy that she was friends with for a couple of months."

Ash winces, hurt by the idea of Serena forgetting him as Lillie continues.

"Seriously, Ash, you just need to do whatever you need to do to get over it. Okay? Cause it's never going to happen."

With that said, Lillie walks away to take her shower. He sighs sadly, thinking about accepting Lillie's advice and move on after all. As he's about to turn away, however, he notices a piece of paper hanging on the refrigerator door. Written on it is the address to Calem's apartment in Cerulean City. He stares at it as he begins to come up with a new plan to talk to Serena.

" _I'm not giving up that easily,_ " he says in his mind as he takes the sheet of paper. " _Not this time._ "

The flight to Kanto was a quiet and long one which suited Ash just fine as he decided he needed time to find a good excuse for explaining why he's there before being upfront with Serena. A part of him is thinking about how this is a horrible idea since he would be confessing his feelings for Serena right at Calem's apartment of all places, but he intends to stick to his plan to not be afraid no matter how logical it is not to try. Luckily for him, he found a cab where the diver found a very quick way to get from the airport to Cerulean City and so before long, he makes it to the sidewalk of Calem's apartment building. He pays the cab driver, grabs his backpack and walks over to the front door. He takes out the sheet of paper containing the address, making sure he's in the right place before he rings the doorbell.

After a minute, Calem opens the door with a forlorn look on his face. He stares at Ash who looks back at him, curious about what's wrong with the taller man.

"She's gone," Calem says bluntly.

Ash doesn't know what to say with that information. After a few seconds, he takes a guess and asks, "Is she coming back?"

Calem frowns at Ash, making the shorter man a little uneasy. After a moment, Calem realizes what's on Ash's mind and takes a step forward and punches him right in the face. Ash loses his balance and tumbles down the steps as Calem goes back inside and closes the door. Ash groans in pain as he rubs his eye.

"Okay...I guess that's fair," he whimpers to himself as he slowly gets up. "Had that coming for a while."

Ash continues to moan in pain as he begins to wonder what to do next. He takes out his phone, thinking about calling Serena when he suddenly sees that he has a voicemail from her. Without hesitation, he goes to his voicemail and puts his phone in his ear, eager to hear her voice.

"Hey, Ash, it's Serena," He hears her say with her voice sounding fragile. "Look, I'm getting on a plane heading back to Kalos right now and I'm wondering if you're free for lunch tomorrow. I'm thinking at, like, noon at the 50's diner where we first ate back in Lumiose City. There's something I want to talk to you about, so if you could just call me back and or meet me there that would be great. Bye."

Ash's heart stops and his eyes widen at this information. He had just missed her before she headed back home not knowing he's all the way over here. In a state of panic, he grabs his backpack and runs back to the street shouting, "Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! TAXI!"

Luckily for Ash, there is more than one flight back to Kalos. Unluckily for him, there some road construction just started near Kalos Airport which resulted in terrible traffic. As a result, it took Ash way too long than he is comfortable with before his cab is able to take him back to Vaniville Town so he can drop off his backpack to hide that he went to Kanto and then to Lumiose City. By the time his cab is only a couple of blocks away from the diner, however, it hit traffic again and there are only a few minutes left until noon. Eager to make it on time, Ash pays the cab driver and decides to run as fast he can to the diner. He barely has a moment to spare when he makes it to the front door where he can see Serena waiting for him. He takes a moment to catch his breath before he opens the door and walks over to Serena who greets him with a smile.

"Right on time like always," she says. "Though by the stench of sweat all over you, I hope you didn't run all the way from Vaniville Town just to get here."

"Uh, no. I just had to abandon my cab when it was hitting traffic," Ash explains.

"Ah, traffic. It's always the worst," she says as she walks over to hug him until she gets a good look on Ash's face and her eyes widen. "Oh, my gosh, what did you do to yourself?"

"Sorry?" Ash asks confused.

"You have a black eye," Serena explains, pointing at his left eye.

Ash touches the area of his eye and winces as he now realizes that it probably has been turning black after Calem punched him. He struggles for a moment before he makes up a lie.

"Oh...uh… I had to put up a fight to stop someone from stealing my cab," he says.

"Oh, well I hope you gave him the what for," Serena chuckles as she hugs him. Ash doesn't hesitates to hug her back as tightly as he can before Serena breaks the hug and gestures him to sit down. The two of them sit quietly for a moment as Serena looks at Ash with a small smile.

"Hi," she says.

"Hey," Ash says with a small smile.

They remain quiet again until Serena takes a deep breath and gets to the point.

"So, I went to Kanto to visit Calem," she begins. "And so...well...okay, listen. There's a like a bunch of stuff that's going on with me that I haven't told you about because I haven't been sure what the right thing to do is."

Ash nods in understanding which makes feel a little better until his black eye distracts her again.

"Ash, your face just looks terrible," she says worryingly.

"Oh, don't worry about that. It's nothing, really," Ash says assuringly. "So, what were you going to say?"

Serena takes a deep breath and says, "It's just that...I've been having to do a lot of thinking about the big picture and…"

She sighs again and gives Ash a serious look.

"Okay, you know what? No," she says firmly. "Ash, I cannot concentrate because of your horrible black eye. Seriously, tell me the truth. What did you do to yourself? Did you hit yourself with something? Car accident? Did you walk into a door or…?"

At this point, Ash is feeling nervous. With the glare she's giving him right now, it's clear that he can't lie to her anymore and he has to be upfront with her.

"Calem punched me," he says honestly.

Serena's face falls as Ash continues.

"I flew to Kanto."

Serena stares at the raven-haired man, trying to process this information.

"Why did you fly to Kanto?" she asks.

Ash takes a deep breath and answers, "To tell you how I feel about you."

Serena continues to stare at him for a moment before she shakes her head.

"That's not why," she says.

"Well, I wanted to be honest with you," Ash says.

"Bullcrap," Serena rebukes. "You could have been honest with me any time. You flew to Kanto to break up me and Calem...right?"

Ash opens his mouth to say something, but he holds his tongue which tells Serena enough.

"How long have you felt this way?" she asks.

"Pretty much since the day we met," Ash confesses.

Serena frowns and asks, "So when I said I have a boyfriend and I just want to be friends and you said that's what you wanted too, that was a lie?"

"No, no. I wanted that to be true," Ash says.

"But it wasn't," Serena says. "You never wanted to be my friend."

"We are friends," Ash says. "I haven't just been trying to put my tongue down your throat. I just -"

"I told Calem you weren't that kind of guy, but you totally are that kind of guy," Serena interrupts. "Crap, he must think I'm such an idiot. Heck, you must think I'm such an idiot."

"No, of course not, Serena," Ash says, trying to calm Serena down.

"I trusted you," she snaps. "I trusted we were what we said we were: friends. You can't be friends with someone if you're just skulking around waiting for some opportunity to screw them."

"No! No! Look, what are you even talking about?" Ash yells back worryingly. "It's not like you've caught me bathing in orphan blood or stuck your cat inside your freezer or something. It's just I like you a little bit more romantically than I let on. Believe me, Serena I've been trying to fight these feelings for so long because I've been so happy to just be your friend but I can't fight how I feel about you. It's not a crime. Besides, even if it is, you're not exactly innocent either. I mean you crossed all the same lines I did and I was single while you weren't."

Ash covers his mouth in shock. Serena's face turns red as she glares him angrily.

"I would never cheat on anyone!" she yells. "And now you're making me feel like I somehow cheated on Calem?"

"Wait, hold on, I made you feel like that?" Ash questions. "What, and you did nothing that I might possibly misconstrue? That night in the hot tub? 'I'll snuggle if you snuggle back'? I mean did you tell Calem about that?"

Serena's angry face falls into a sad one as she thinks about that night. In the back of her mind, she wants to smile, thinking about that moment of closeness with Ash, but deep down, she knows what she feels she has to say next.

"That was a mistake," she says softly. "This was a mistake."

Ash's heart sinks at Serena's words. Serena sighs as she stands up.

"I'm leaving," she announces. "I'm leaving the region

"What? Back to Kanto?" Ash asks.

"No. I have been offered a job in Sinnoh," she answers. "I'm putting my career first. I'll be gone for a year and it's a pretty big promotion."

Ash looks at her sadly as his heart begins to break.

"Congratulations," is all he manages to say.

Serena eyes start to water as she starts walking away saying, "See you around, Ash."

Ash watches her leave the restaurant with a dejected look on his face. He turns around and starts at the table, contemplating what has just happened. He tries to hold his emotions together, but the pain of Serena's words are too much for him the more they dwell in his mind.

For the first time since Miette cheated on him, Ash breaks down and cries bitterly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It has been a couple of days since what happened at the diner. By now, everyone knows that Serena has accepted Palermo's offer and is going to Sinnoh by the end of the month. Lillie, Nina, Shauna, Brock, and Holly are all both happy and sad that she is making this big decision toward her career. She has already made arrangements to end her lease for her apartment, most for stuff is packed, and she has already made sure that her new apartment will allow her to keep her cat, Fennekin.

During this time, She and Calem had a long heart-to-heart chat through their phones and agreed that after five long years, their relationship has to sadly come to an end. Calem is more disappointed and heartbroken than Serena is, but it was still difficult for her to explain everything that has happened in a way that he would understand without breaking his heart too badly. In the end, she knew that what she had for the tall man was practically broken the moment he left her alone to put his career first and so Calem announced that he decided to stay in Kanto and carry on his role as manager for the negotiations. Serena smiled slightly and encouraged him to work hard and enjoy before they said goodbye one last time. As hard as it was, Serena felt better for finally telling Calem everything.

Everything is taking in order for the honey blonde woman.

Almost everything.

Serena still feels a slight pain in her heart after the way she left things with Ash. Neither of them has seen each other or said a word to each other since then. Lillie eventually told her how Ash came into her apartment to talk to her and she realized his feelings for her big sister and she told her to let Serena go, but it seems clear after exchanging stories, that he wasn't having it. Serena didn't know how to take this information as deep down she knows it doesn't matter. Brock and Holly have been voicing suggestions that she should talk to him and try to leave things in better terms but she coldly rebukes their ideas.

It is currently her last week in Kalos. In three days, she's going to fly to Sinnoh. Since Palermo gave her the day off to get ready, she decides to take a break from packing and go to the yogurt place she and Ash went to for what will be the last time. She buys a large container and overfills it, not caring about how much much she has to pay for it and finds a spot in the counter to enjoy the sweet taste of frozen yogurt as best as she can.

She eats quietly without a care when suddenly, another woman sits next to her and begins eating her own yogurt, not noticing her. Serena scoffs in annoyance wanting the space all to herself, but then she notices something familiar about the other woman. It takes a moment before she recognizes the short blue hair and orange eyes of Miette. She frowns and looks away from Ash's ex-girlfriend and keeps her eyes on her snack, mentally praying that Miette doesn't notice her. Unfortunately, fate doesn't seem to be as kind as Miette glances around Serena's direction by chance and immediately recognizes her.

"Hey, I know you," Miette says. "You're that friend of Ash's"

Serena grumbles in her mind as she wants to punch something for her misfortune. Miette notices her demeanor and frowns.

"How is your boyfriend?" She asks.

Serena stops eating and answers without looking at Miette.

"Ex-boyfriend," she says coldly. "And he's fine. Perfectly healthy."

"Well, that's good to hear," Miette says with a small smile before she frowns. "I-i mean with him getting better."

Serena doesn't say anything. She goes back to her yogurt until Miette sighs again.

"H-how's Ash?"

Serena freezes again before she coldly scoffs.

"How should I know?" She answers bitterly.

"But you're friends, aren't you?" Miette asks, shocked.

Serena resists the urge to bend her spoon.

"He's no friend of mine," she snarls. "Just some creep."

"What? He's not a creep," Miette protests. "He's a sweetheart that you'd be lucky to have as at least a friend."

"Says the skank who broke his heart," Serena growls.

Miette frowns angrily before she grabs Serena by the shoulder and forces her to look at her.

"You don't know the whole story," she claims. "I wasn't trying to hurt him, I was doing that for him. For us."

Serena stares at Miette in disbelief.

"How in heaven's name does that work?" She demands.

"I was failing anatomy that day," Miette explains. "Of all the classes, that was the one thing that was keeping me from becoming a doctor with Ash so we could work in the same hospital together. I didn't want to be viewed as a failure and Ash's eyes because I love him too much. So I came to my anatomy teacher and talked to him about it. He said he was willing to look the other way for a price. It took a moment before I realized that that price was to kiss him and he was specific that he wanted me to kiss him like I would kiss Ash. I didn't want to do it, obviously, but it seemed I had no choice and I had to take advantage of the fact that Ash was taking this class in a different area so there was no way he could notice. So, I had to swallow my pride and let him kiss me. I would moan and place my hands on his cheeks as if I was kissing Ash instead of this disgusting older man. And then at that moment of all moments, Ash had to come in just to see us and thus, the last thing I saw before we broke up was the tortured look of his heart completely broken at the sight of what I've done. I knew better than anyone how he felt about cheating after what happened between his mom and dad, but I was willing to do what I thought was necessary just as a means to an end for my future of being a doctor with Ash."

"So you cheated on him just for a grade in some stupid class?" Serena berates. "How desperate can you get?"

"You don't know what it's like to love Ash like I do," Miette pleads. "He means everything to me. He always has since the moment I laid my eyes on him. If one moment of disloyalty was what it took to stay with him, then that's what I'm willing to do."

"Then you don't even know him at all," Serena barks. "If you think betraying his trust and doing what he defeats is what make you worthy of him, then you never really knew him. He would never want anyone, not even his girlfriend to do that even if the whole world depended on it. Do you have any idea how it hurt me to see him sad whenever he so much as thought of you because of what you did?!"

"Wait a minute, how it hurt you?" Miette asks in confusion. "How is what happened between me and him about you?"

Serena holds her tongue as she realizes what she said. She struggles to speak as Miette looks at Serena's eyes and gasps softly in realization.

"Oh no," she says in shock. "You...you fell in love with him."

Serena's widen for a moment before she gives Miette and angry glare.

"I do not love Ash!" she barks.

"Yes, you do," Miette contradicts. "I see it in your eyes. It's the same look I have every day ever since I began to pray that he'd take me back. He means a lot to you. More than you can put into words, in fact. But you did something that hurt him horribly."

Serena grows frustrated at her accusation.

"What happened between me and that shy dweeb is none of your business," she snarls.

"So you admit something happened between the two of you," Miette says, clearly not willing to let the subject go. "You did something to break his heart just like I did."

"I'm not like you," Serena sets venomously. "I'm not a woman who is willing to cheat on someone. I would never do it no matter what was at stake, regardless of attraction or some stupid class grade or how much I -"

Serena holds her tongue again as she realizes what she was about to say. Unfortunately, that is all Miette needs to prove her point.

"I see," she says sadly. "So you fell in love with him but refused to accept it and as a result, you broke his heart."

"You're making up a story in your obsession over him," Serena says.

"Am I?" Miette challenges. "Well, then I wonder which woman is the real mean skank here, the one who did what she believed was necessary for her future for Ash or the one who rejected him when he gave her a chance to be happy with him."

Serena frowns bitterly at this. Finally, she huffs and decides she's hard enough. Without a word, she grabs a go-to container, puts it her frozen yogurt in it and starts storming out of the building when she hears Miette speaking one last time.

"I hope he remembers you more fondly than he remembers me," she says sadly. "I really do from one woman who lost him to another."

Serena stops for a moment to ponder on those words before she scoffs and storms out. She begins to eat the rest of her yogurt out of frustration rather than hunger as She walks to her apartment. She gives it everything she has to pretend that Miette's words did not get to her, and yet it's all that's in her mind. It seems like every turn and every attempt she makes to try to forget about her ex-friend turns into another opportunity to think about him even more. It's as if the world wants to keep him on her mind like a catchy song that will never go away and she's on the verge of screaming her head off for its persistence.

By the time she makes it to her apartment, Serena is merely wiping out whatever melted remains are still in the container before she throws it away in the nearest public trash can. She enters her apartments and plummets into her couch with a plot and nothing to greet her but her cat, Fennekin walking over to snuggle against her head. Serena ignores the cat's affection as she is still annoyed with what Miette said.

"That stupid guy," she mutters to herself. "That imbecile. That bashful, lying snitch. That... That... That kind, thoughtful and caring guy."

Her anger begins to evaporate as she seems emotionally incapable of feeling any negative feelings towards Ash anymore. Her mind feels defenseless as new thoughts begin to enter it. Positive thoughts. Thoughts of when they first met at Brock's party. Thoughts of when they met each other again at the theater. Thoughts of when he was there to listen to her after Calem told her the news about Kanto or when he helped her when she was vulnerable trying to take off her dress or when he was there to dance and to go out for drinks with her. Or when he was not willing to give into Lillie's advances, possibly because he still wanted a chance to be with Serena. And finally she thoughts of that moment in the hot tub when she felt insecure and lost, he was there to listen to her when she talked about her father and needed someone to hold her.

Her mind is so lost on tear thoughts that only Fennekin notices the front door opening to reveal Lillie entering the apartment.

"I got off from work early And thought I could drop over and help you pack," she says. "You did mention you have yet to go through your refrigerator."

Serena barely notices her younger sister. She nearly hums in acknowledgment As Lillie opens the refrigerator door and starts sorting through the refrigerator deciding what is still good and throwing away things that are bad or look out of date.

"Ew, this jar of pickles is months out of date," Lillie says in disgust. "This must have been Calem's when he was planning to use them for the dinner party."

Still, Serena doesn't say anything. Lillie doesn't notice until she starts to hear the sound of soft whimpering coming from her older sister. She stops looking through the refrigerator and walks over to Serena who is hugging a pillow with tears all over her face.

"Serena, what's wrong?" Lillie asks.

Serena continues to weeps as she sits up to look at Lillie.

"I...I...I love him," she manages to say.

Lillie frowns sadly as she sits next to Serena to give her a comforting hug.

"I know," she says softly. "It must have been hard to break up with Calem after all that -"

"No!" Serena cries. "Not Calem. I love Ash!"

Lillie stares at her older sister in shock.

"What did you say?" She asks.

"It's true, I admit it," Serena weeps. "I just don't know what I'm doing anymore. I'm gonna be all the way in Sinnoh and I won't have you, or Brock and Holly or that...that sweet, sweet Ash and I'm going to be all alone with these huge responsibilities and...and…"

Lillie stares at Serena sadly. She thought for sure there could be nothing between her sister and Ash because she was dating Calem and yet here is her snarky older sister feeling more broken and vulnerable then she has ever seen her be even when Calem left for Kanto as if a part of her very self is gone without Ash.

"Have you heard from him?" Lillie finally asks.

"No," Serena whimpers through her tears. "I...I messed it up really bad, Lillie. I called him a liar when...when I'm actually the liar."

"No, no you're not a liar," Lillie claims.

"Yes, I am," Serena whines. "I think it counts as lying if you lie to yourself. I had all this time to accept how I feel about him and I blew it and now he's probably trying to move on from me as if I'm just another Misty or Miette and...and… oh Ash!"

Lillie does not hesitate to wrap her arms around her older sister as Serena breaks down and cries hard.


	11. Chapter 11

Chatper 11

Ash has not been faring well either. Ever since the confrontation at the diner, Ash has been working on moving on from Serena… or at least trying to. Dawn and Jeffrey have been doing everything they can to try to cheer him up whenever he's at home, but he coldly rejects their attempts despite knowing deep down they're just trying to help him. Brock and Holly who have long since made up from their fight have been unsure of how to help him as he seems to stay in his attic room more and more. His actions outside of his home become more robotic whenever he does his chores or go home I'm running errands or goes to his dead-end job.

Everyone realizes that what he's doing is very similar to how it was when he first broke up with Miette, and yet it is clear that what happened between Ash and Serena is worse than any breakup Ash has ever experienced in his life. Secretly, Ash has been hoping to get over Serena as easily as he has with past girlfriends. They had her confrontation, he gave everything he had and in the end, she rejected him and so he must get over her. And yet as much as he accepts this there's a subconscious part of his mind that accepts that his heart is filled with so much excruciating pain without Serena. But the rest of him is fooling himself into believing that this might be for the best.

It is late at night just a couple of days before Serena gets ready to fly to Sinnoh. Ash decides to meet up with Holly and Brock at a bar and talk over things

"So I think everything worked out for the best," Ash says to the married couple. "In fact, I'm going back to medical school. I just sent my application this afternoon.

"Oh, so you just gave up just like that?" Holly asks disapprovingly.

"I'm not giving up," Ash contradicts. "I'm going back to the life I originally was supposed to have by now."

"Are you sure this is the best decision, little buddy?" Brock asks worryingly. "I mean when you are old and wrinkly with nothing at home to comfort you but your medical equipment, whatever degrees you have hanging on your wall and your bookcases full of books on human health that you don't even read, will this seem like the right choice?"

"Yes," Ash claims. "Because I'm going to look back and think that dropping out because of a woman was stupid, not making a move on a woman who doesn't want me was smart, I'm a doctor and I've saved millions of lives, I've even cured a few diseases because I'm brilliant in which case you are all welcome so stop criticizing my choices."

Brock and Holly look at each disapprovingly which Ash ignores as a waitress comes in bringing three empty glasses and a pitcher of beer. Ash silently thanks the waitress before she leaves and he starts pouring the beer into the glasses. Before he starts pouring on the third glass, however, Brock's eyes widen and he quickly snatches it away leaving Ash confused.

"Sorry, babe," Brock says apologetically To Holly. "I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Ash asks. "What's going on?"

Brock and Holly look at each other with excited grins before Holly turns to Ash and says, "Well, it was supposed to be a secret, but Mr. tall, dark and sexy here... Oh, how should I put this? He knocked me up!"

Ash's eyes widen And he looks at Brock in disbelief. Brock giggles in excitement as he nods to his friend that what his wife just said is true.

"Holy crap!" Ash exclaims. "You got a baby in you! That means the Apocalypse Is about to start already!"

"I know!" Holly squeals. "I'm going to be a mommy! I'm going to be a mama!"

"And I'm going to be at daddy!" Brock giggles like a little boy. "And you are the first person we've told so you can't get angry with us and you have to forgive every little thing that pregnant people do to you. It's like the law."

"Ah, drat. Well, I guess that's fair," Ash says with a shrug. "Oh boy, I cannot wait to meet this kid."

"How do you think I feel?" Holly asks with a smirk before she gives the raven-haired man another serious look. "Also, we're going to be throwing a going-away party for Serena tomorrow night. You should come."

Ash's smile fades instantly and he shakes his head sadly.

"I don't think so," He says.

"Come on, Ash," Brock protests. "At least come over there to say goodbye to her."

"I think we already said our goodbyes at the restaurant," Ash says. "If she wanted more out of that discussion, she would have talked to me by now already. Otherwise, there's really nothing more to say."

Brock and Holly frown disapprovingly but silently decide to let it go as Ash and Brock start drinking their beer. As Ash finishes his first cup and already feels the effects of the drink affect his brain, He hopes that the effects will numb the sadness and emptiness that he knows is still roaming all over his body.

The night after that, friends and family members all meet together at Brock and Holly's place to partake in Serena's going away party. People are eating and drinking as if it's another party that Brock has thrown, people are forming a line to take turns saying there congratulations to Serena much to her appreciation. Even Calem made an arrangement for a Skype chat on Brock's computer to say a few words of congratulations of his own and to express how much he wants Serena to work hard and show the people of Sinnoh who is boss.

Serena keeps so warm and appreciative smile as everyone partakes in this big party all for her. But as much as she is smiling on the outside, she still feels that pain in her heart that has only grown ever since she finally admitted to herself that she truly loves Ash. Brock and Holly told her how they tried to convince him to come to say goodbye, but he refused. This didn't surprise Serena in the slightest as she knew he wouldn't come, and yet the pain and agony of Ash not being around to say goodbye only increases intensely as the fact that he is out of her life for good feel even more real. Lillie has noticed how hurt her big sister is even though she hides it so well in front of everyone else and so has stayed by Serena side to pat her on the shoulder or rub her in the back for comfort to the best of her ability when no one else notices.

Meanwhile, a few blocks down Ash is sitting in his spot on top of Dawn's roof. In his mind, he is imagining how everyone else is having a great time at Serena's party and a part of him wants to convince himself to go.

"No, there's no point in it," Ash thinks to himself. "Why would she want to see me again after telling her the truth? What good is there attempting to rekindle anything when she's leaving for Sinnoh? And why would I want to try to make her feel the same way one last time when she's going to be gone that long and the long distance would just destroy it anyway like what would have happened between me and Misty? In fact, maybe it would be better if I just delete her number from my phone and be done with it."

Ash's eyes widen at that last thought. It seems fitting that he should move on from Serena for good by deleting her number from his phone just like when he officially moved on from Miette by deleting her voice message. Without another thought, He takes out his phone, goes to contacts, scrolls down until he gets to Serena's number and hits the delete button. A small box appears with a text saying "Are you sure you want to delete?"

Ash hesitates and thinks about what he's doing. He closes his eyes and imagines Serena's beautiful blue eyes staring at him with a snarky look. As much as he doesn't want to admit it, he wants to see her give him that look again more than anything even if it was just as friends, even if he never got to feel her lips against his, even if he never got to hold her in his arms or feel her arms wrapped tightly around his again.

The more he thinks about her the harder it is to move his thumb and confirm that he wants to delete Serena's number. Finally, he turns off his phone, puts it back in his pocket and looks back at the view of Lumiose City. Then he suddenly remembers something that Serena once said.

 _"There's nothing worse than a feeling of everything you love may be taken away from you just like that. Makes you don't want to forget anything good in your life, you know?"_

With that, he thinks hard about those few words and sighs as he accepts he knows what he has to do.

It has been a couple hours and some people have started to head home. Serena's party starts to quiet down until eventually the only people are left are Holly, Brock, Lily, Nina, Shauna, and Serena herself. Brock and Holly eventually decide to go upstairs and hit the hay while Serena and her friends decide to stay in the living room and chat. Nina and Shauna are snuggling close to their dear friend and all saying their words of how much they are going to miss her and wishing they didn't have to go which Serena pays in kind hugging her two friends understanding their sorrow.

Suddenly, the door opens and everyone turns around to see none other than Ash entering the house with a backpack on his , Nina, and Shauna are surprised at his sudden appearance, but no one is as shocked as Serena. Ash enters the living room and his brown eyes instantly connect with Serena's blue ones. At this moment, they both feel their hearts leaping for joy at the side of each other even though on the outside they are just looking at each other blankly.

"Hello," Ash greets weekly. "Sorry, I'm late."

All eyes are on Serena as they wait for her to reply. It takes a few seconds before she smiles warmly at Ash and gestures him to sit down. Ash smiles back and sits on a chair opposite from the couch that the women are sitting on and for a few minutes everyone just talks awkwardly as they discuss what Ash has been up to. Eventually, however, Lillie, Nina, and Shauna decide to head home to give Ash and Serena some privacy. Thus, Serena walks them to the front door and hugs each of them tightly before they leave. She then turns to find Ash and discovers him in the kitchen staring at the refrigerator where their word magnet poems used to be. Serena smiles at that memory as she walks next to Ash and he, in turn, turns to her with a small smile.

"Hey," Serena says softly.

"Hey," Ash says back.

The two of them stand in silence for a couple of moments before Ash speaks again.

"How are you?" He asks.

"I'm great," Serena lies. "How are you?"

"Good," he says plainly.

Silence overtakes them again until Ash clears his throat.

"Um...So your new job is going to be amazing," he says. "Plus, you get to live in Sinnoh, one of the most beloved regions in the world."

"Yeah," Serena says nodding. "And you're going to go back to med school. That is so great."

"Really?" Ash asks in confusion.

Serena pauses for a moment before she decides to be snarky at the shy guy for the first time in weeks.

"No. Actually, I've always hated doctors," she says teasingly. "So I pretty much think you've become the Antichrist."

"Ah," Ash says chuckling. "And I was lying dead to your face when I said Sinnoh is so great. Everyone who has a life knows that it's worse than Unova and no one wants to admit it."

The two of them begin to laugh loudly at their jokes feeling the tension between them melt as they hold each other and giggle uncontrollably. After a moment, they quiet down and look at each other with sincere smiles feeling better. They continue to stare until Ash looks seedy with an uneasy look.

"So...about what happened in Kanto…" he says.

"It's okay," Serena says softly.

"No, it isn't," Ash contradicts. "I'm really sorry. It was stupid and I know Calum is a good guy and he didn't deserve that."

Serena frowns and looks away with a sigh.

"Yeah, well I think things were going to look flimsy between us either way," she says sadly. "I mean it turns out that he was offered to accept staying there for another 6 months so it's like I had no say in the matter and even then he still accepted the job without telling me so... I guess it was doomed either way."

Ash frowns and asks, "Are you two going to be okay?

Serena hesitates with his question before she admits, "I'm not sure... about anything."

Ash nods in understanding and the silence fills the room again until Serena clears her throat.

"So I got really creative when I was cleaning out my fridge," She says as she opens the refrigerator. "And in case you decided to come, I made you this."

She takes out something bread shaped covered in tin foil and hands it over to Ash. Ash smiles a little as he unwraps it and chuckles to find that she made an entire Fool's Gold sandwich.

"I even coated the loaf and butter as you're supposed to," Serena says proudly as Ash stares at the sandwich. "So that's the real thing."

"I can't believe you did this," Ash says as he puts the sandwich down, opens his backpack and takes out something that is wrapped in gift wrapping with a red bow on top. "This is your going away present. It's kind of the reason why I took so long to get here."

Serena smiles as she takes the gift and unwraps it. But then her eyes widen and she starts chuckling herself as she realized that inside Is another Fool's Gold sandwich. The two of them look at each other and start laughing again as she puts the sandwich down next to the one she made for Ash. Finally, silence fills the area once more and Ash and Serena are left just smiling at each other thinking of what else to say.

"So…" Ash begins shyly. "I thought a lot about something you said. About how when you realize how quickly everything falls apart, it makes you never want to give up anything good ever again."

Serena nods before Ash takes a deep breath and continues.

"Whatever this is between us, it is good," he says wholeheartedly. "It's wonderful even. In fact, it is actually the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I don't want it to be over."

Serena feels her heart skip a beat at Ash's words and she smiles warmly at him.

"I don't want it to be over either," she says sincerely. "Honestly, I wish we could invent a time machine or something."

Ash smiles back as he and Serena step closer to each other.

"If we ever invent time travel, I would go back to the day we met," he says.

"Oh? And what would you change?" Serena asks as she wraps her arms around Ash's neck.

"Absolutely nothing," Ash says as he places his hands on Serena's hips.

"Me neither," Serena whispers as they both lean their heads in and their lips connect.

The feeling of their lips touching makes their hearts leap for joy. It isn't long before they start kissing more firmly and passionately as Ash wraps his arms around Serena and pulls her closer to deepen the kiss. Serena softly moans in pleasure and a smile can be seen on her lips as she presses them against Ash's with all her might. When they finally part, they have the have the most heartfelt smiles on their faces and Serena begins to caress both of Ash's cheeks with both of her hands.

"I love you, Ash," She says softly. "I am so sorry it took so long for me to realize it."

"I love you too, Serena," Ash says with a bright smile. "And it's okay, I took a long while myself."

Serena smiles and she begins to passionately kiss Ash again for a few minutes until she decides to rest her head on his shoulder while holding him tightly.

"Now I really wish I didn't take Palermo's offer," she says sadly. CAnd I can say from experience that a long distance relationship wouldn't work."

"Yeah," Ash says sadly. "I wish there was a way that you could stay or I could come with you."

They continue to hold each other in silence feeling glum about their situation. Suddenly, Serena's eyes widen and she breaks the hug to look at Ash.

"Now who says you can't come with me?" She asks smirking for the first time in weeks. "After all, you only just filed your application to go to med school here, right?

"Yeah, so?" Ash asks.

"Well, do you think It is possible for you to file another application at a med school over in Sinnoh?" Serena asks with a playful pout. "Say perhaps one in Pastoria City where I'll be working?"

Ash thinks for a moment before he gets an idea and for the first time in his life, he smirks just like the honey blonde woman he loves.

"As a matter of fact, there is a couple of them in that city to choose from," he answers.

Serena grins excitedly before she and Ash begin to kiss with all their hearts now that they have a plan to stay together where they deeply want to be.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

It has been 15 months since that fateful night after Serena's going away party. The next day, Ash applied to the medical school in Pastoria City and was immediately accepted. Thrilled that he is able to go with Serena to Sinnoh, he happily quit his job and applied for an apartment not far from where his new girlfriend is staying.

Since then, when Serena is not at work and Ash is not at school or studying, the two of them have been spending every waking moment together as if they felt the need to make up for lost time after taking so long to confess their love for one another. They each have spare keys to their apartments and so would stay at either place (though mostly Serena's because she often commands it) to kiss or watch tv or talk nonstop. The highlights of their day, however, are when they end up cuddling on the couch with Serena holding hash tightly from behind blissfully happy making Ash blush yet equally happy to feel her arms around him.

Meanwhile, back in Kalos, Holly gave birth to a girl named Emily. The new parents have been working day and night to take care of their child. Brock, in particular, has become a changed man as he's practically become more devoted to taking care of Emily than anything else including his job. Calem the last anyone has heard has decided to permanently stay in Kanto after finishing his role in the negotiations and there are hints that he might have ironically started a relationship with Bianca.

It is currently early in the morning and Ash has quietly snuck into Serena's apartment and started making breakfast for her. He struggles to stay awake after spending almost the entire night studying for an exam at medical school. He drinks his now 10th cup of coffee as he finishes making the last pancake and sets the food on the table when he hears Serena entering the dining room in her pajamas.

"Now here's a sight I don't wake up to everyday," Serena says with a smirk. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Uh...You mean apart from being the most beautiful woman in the world and the greatest thing that's ever happened to a shy, dorky guy like me?" Ash asks scratching the back of his head.

"Yes. That," Serena answers bluntly.

"Well, I've noticed you've been really busy Animating the past couple of weeks and I thought I'd surprise you," Ash answers.

Serena's smirk turns into a heartfelt Smile as she walks over to Ash and plants her lips firmly against his.

"Thank you, babe, This is exactly what I needed," she says sweetly.

"Anytime," Ash replies, blushing like mad from the kiss much to Serena's amusement.

The couple then sit down and dig in on the breakfast that Ash made for a few minutes before Serena gets an idea and decides to strike a conversation with a devious smirk.

"So, just a couple of weeks and you'll become a doctor," She says with a kittenish tone in her voice.

"Uh...yeah, that's right," Ash says before yawning.

"You seem pretty tired from studying again," Serena says. "You didn't have to go over all this trouble to make me breakfast you know."

"But I wanted too," Ash says sincerely. "I mean you have another big project coming up and I wanted to do something nice as your boyfriend."

Serena's grin grows as she quietly stands up,walks over to her desk on the other side of the apartment, take something out, walks back and sits back down Looking at Ash.

"You know, speaking of which, I have been thinking you should be something else instead of my boyfriend," she says in a matter-of-factually tone.

Ash's eyes widen as he does know whether or not to be curious or hurt that she would say this. But all of his worries instantly vanish when she reveals she is holding a small white box and opens it to reveal a diamond ring.

"I want you to be my husband," Serena says plainly.

Ash's face turns redder than it ever has before. He stares at the ring while Serena crosses her arms and watches him in amusement.

"Well?" She asks.

Ash begins to sweat and scratches the back of his head before he finally says, "A-a-well, it just so happens that I have a counter offer."

"Huh?" Serena asks in confusion.

Ash gulps nervously as he reaches into his pocket and takes out a small Black box And opens it to reveal a small diamond ring. Serena blushes lightly at the site has her boyfriend takes a deep breath.

"B-b-b-be my wife?" He asks shyly.

Serena's eyes widen and her blush grows before she smirks, shakes her head and then runs over to Ash.

"Come here, you," she says flirtatiously as she hops into his lap, wraps her arms around his neck and smashes her lips together with his fiercely. Ash's eyes widen and his face turns redder than before, before he gives into the kiss. They keep at it for a couple of minutes before They break the kiss and look at each other smiling.

"When did you get your ring?" Serena asks.

"About a couple of weeks ago," Ash says. "I was planning to propose during our next big date which I figured would have been sometime after you finished your project and I completed my exam. How about you?"

"Oh, about the same actually," Serena says in a matter-of-factly tone. "I was thinking of proposing after you graduate and become a doctor or something, but after you made this breakfast I decided I just couldn't wait any longer."

Ash smiles and holds Serena tightly and she hugs him back in kind. They stay like this until Ash speaks up.

"So here's what I've been thinking," he says. "I graduate within the next two weeks and then we go back to Kalos and get married sometime in the summer, say August? That should give people enough time for us to prepare for her wedding?"

"Tons," Serena agrees while she snuggles her head against Ash's shoulder. "Plus, it also gives us time to look up a place for us to live together once we're married."

"I didn't even think of that," Ash admires with a nervous chuckle.

"Well, ten ours a terrific thing that your bride is here to think of such things," Serena says flirtatiously.

Ash looks at Serena bashfully and asks, "So this is it? We're getting married?"

"We are so getting married," Serena announces as she takes the rings off the table and puts the one from the black box on her finger and practically forces the one grin the white box onto Ash's finger. The two of them look at the rings on their fingers before Serena starts to make out with Ash ferociously. When they part, she lays her head on his shoulder and lifts her hand up to admire the ring on her finger.

"So what kinds of wedding are you thinking?" Ash asks as he holds his fiance.

Serena thinks about it for months before she says, "I think Brock and Holly had the right idea of arranging it so that only the people we really care about are there to witness such an occasion. The thing is there's not a lot of people that I would want there apart from a few family members and a couple of friends.

"Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing," She agrees as he thinks about what to do. "Maybe we could set up a big tent In someone's backyard and then have Amanda officiate?"

Serena thinks about this before she turns her head to Ash and smirks.

"Sounds perfect my cuddly husband-to-be," She says before their lips meet again.

News of Ash and Serena's engagement spread like wildfire among their family and friends back in Kalos. Lillie practically shrieked so loud that she broke the speaker on Serena's phone when she and Ash broke the news. She, Nina and Shauna were quick to make arrangements for dresses and decorations for the wedding. Dawn agreed to order a big tents to be installed on her backyard and Amanda was more than happy to agree to officiate the wedding.

After a couple of weeks, Ash indeed graduated med school and found a position at a hospital clinic in Vaniville town while Serena was allowed to go back to Palermo's Department after finishing business In Sinnoh. The two fly back to Kalos with a squealing lillie to greet them at the airport. For the next couple of months, Ash and Serena and their friends have been working hard and getting ready for the wedding while Ash is living in Dawn's attic again and Serena stays at Lillie's apartment. The engaged couple found an apartment near the clinic where Ash now works and decided to move in shortly after their honeymoon.

Finally, wedding day arrived. Ash woke up realizing this before Dawn and Jeffrey forced him to get up and face the day. A group of men came over and installed the tent in Dawn's backyard while a few of Serena's friends set up inside with decorations. Ash came to pick up his suit and when he came back, Dawn forced him to stay in his room to get ready until the wedding starts under Serena's orders. The bride and groom have not seen each other since the day before as they want the next time they meet to be inside the tent with Amanda.

Finally, evening came and guests are beginning to arrive through the house to the backyard where they are taking their seats. Ash is finally released from his room to stand next to Amanda while he finds Brock, Nina, Shauna, Palermo, Dawn, and Jeffrey all taking their seats.

Finally, the DJ plays the wedding march and everyone turns to the other side of the tent where Serena is walking down the aisle. Ash stares at her in awe as she is wearing a smile white wedding dress and no veil to cover her face. Serena smirks at her groom, amused with his bashful gaze as she makes to the very end. Ash and Serena hold hands as Amanda begins the ceremony. Ash barely hears a thing Amanda says as his eyes are glued to Serena's. Amanda eventually has to nudge Ash to snap out of his gaze so that he can sheepishly say, "I do," leaving everyone else chuckling. Amanda then turns to Serena asking is she will take Ash to be her husband to which Serena immediately replies, "You bet I do, sister." After exchanging rings, Amanda clears her throat.

"By the power invested in me by the region of Kalos, it is my privilege to pronounce you man and wife. You may now -"

But once again, before Amanda can say the last thing, Serena grabs Ash by the suit and smashes her lips together with his. The officiant shrugs in annoyance while everyone else applauds. After they break the kiss, Serena picks her husband up bridal style, making him blush as she carries him down the aisle.

"I got him! He's mine! All mine!" she shouts boastfully. "Let all who ever wanted Ash Ketchum cry in misery knowing that he's forever all mine!"

"Hey, cousin, don't copy me from my wedding!" Brock calls out while holding Emily.

Serena merely sticks her tongue out at Brock childishly as she puts Ash down and people begin to surround the newlyweds to express their congratulations. Then they proceed to cut the Fool's Gold fountain instead of a wedding cake, much to the confusion of everyone around the bride and groom. Afterwards, Ash and Serena have their first dance and then continue talking to their friends and family.

Eventually, while Serena is drinking champagne with Lillie, Ash bumps into Brock, Holly, and Emily. The former two are quietly arguing while glancing at Ash.

"Oh, please, he's not a real doctor," Holly rebukes.

"Yes, he is. He finished his degree," Brock counters.

"He finished it in Sinnoh. We're not in Sinnoh," Holly argues.

"It's legitimate everywhere," Brock claims.

"What's up, guys?" Ash asks.

The parents hesitate before Brock approaches Ash.

"After you have a baby, if you eat the placenta, Does it count as cannibalism?"

Ash frowns and rolls his eyes.

"You know that's not really a medical question, right?" He asks.

"If a baby's hand is bigger than its face, will it have cancer?" Brock asks, ignoring Ash's response.

"No, it just means your baby has massively big hands," Ash answers.

Brock frowns and childishly says, "You were more fun when you didn't know everything yet."

"Yeah, well at least I don't have to explain to my daughter why making out with someone who is with someone else is theoretically okay when she gets older," Ash remarks.

"Ouch," Holly says snickering. "Have you been taking comeback lesson with Serena?"

"Perhaps," Ash says with a smug look as he walks away.

Ash continues to walk around to everyone celebrating his big day with Serena. A small smile enters his face as he feels truly happy to have made the effort to make it work with the snarky honey blonde woman. His eyes meet Serena's at a distance and they smile at each before Serena gives him an air kiss making him blush lightly much to her amusement.

"Look at my adorable husband blushing," Serena whispers to Lillie.

"Man, I can't believe you have a husband," Lillie says.

"Believe it," Serena says teasingly. "Cause sooner or later I'm going to make an aunt out of you before you know it."

"Stop it," Lillie says, lightly nudging her sister.

**********************************************************************************************************

After a couple of hours, the reception ends and all the guests go home. Dawn and Jeffrey go to bed while the newlyweds decide to stay in Ash's room for the night before flying to Alola for their honeymoon. Before they hit the hay, however, Ash decides to show Serena his spot on the roof. Serena holds Ash from behind while he sits on her lap and she rests her chin on his shoulder as they look at the view.

"I gotta hand it to you, babe, this sight is pretty sweet," Serena says softly. "I can see why you came here often to think."

"Yeah, although I think the top of our apartment building will have a nice view too, so we'll have that to look forward to."

Serena smiles at this idea before looking down at the ground and asks, "You know if you were to fall down at this height, would you die or would you be paralyzed?"

"Probably just paralyzed," Ash answers. "At worst, I would never feel anything again from the waist down."

"Oh, just the waist down?" Serena asks smirking. "So everything else would still be working including your ability to give me children."

"Yes, you still will be able to have all three of our kids," Ash says.

"Yeah, three kids… plus four more," Serena says.

"Wait, what?" Ash squeals. "You want seven kids? Do you even know if we could ever afford that many kids?"

"Sorry, buddy, my mind is made up," Serena says stubbornly before she says with a coquettish look, "Besides, we're talking about a scenario where you can't move your legs, so you will never be able to stop me from having as many babies as I want."

Ash blushes furiously much to his wife's amusement.

"I feel we should have discussed this sometime before we got married," he says.

"Well, it's too late now, buddy boy," Serena says. "We're bonded forever. You're going to stay exactly where I want you to be for the rest of our lives and there's nothing you can do about it."

Ash sighs as turns to Serena with a loving smile.

"I wouldn't do anything about it if I could, anyway," he says as he caresses her cheek. "I just love you too much."

Serena's smirk turns into her own loving smile as she tightens her grip on her husband.

"I love you too, Ash," she says sweetly.

The two of them lean their heads in for a soft but affectionate kiss before they turn back to looking at the view. As Serena hugs Ash and rests her head against his, Ash smiles happily as he thinks about all the upcoming adventures he will have with his honey blonde wife he loves so much knowing that for the first time in his life he is truly completely happy.

The end.


End file.
